Jerod Haase, fifth basketball coach in history at UAB

Very impressive guy. His playing resume is exceptional. The 37-year old South Lake Tahoe native who will be 38 April 1, played from’92-’93 at Cal then transferred to Kansas where he played under present UNC coach Roy Williams from 1994-97. He started 99 of 101 games at Kansas and scored 1,264 points, averaging 12.5 ppg for his career. He helped lead Kansas to an 89-13 record in his three years playing. In 1996-97, he played with future NBA players Jacque Vaughn, Scot Pollard, Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz to lead Kansas to a 34-2 record and a Sweet 16 appearance where they lost a heartbreaker to eventual national champion Arizona, 85-82, here in Birmingham at the Jeffco Civic Center. Arizona had a terrific team that year and defeated a stellar Kentucky team under Rick Pitino in the finals. All three of those teams were championship worthy. Haase averaged 12 points per game that year despite playing with a broken wrist. Haase was also a first team GTE Academic All-American as a senior and second team as a junior. He cowrote a book, Floor Burns, detailing his 1996-97 season as a player at Kansas. The Kansas stat crew created floor burns as a stat after Haase had 165 of them as junior.
He has worked with Williams extensively. He became the Kansas Director of Basketball Operations for Williams from 1999-2003. During that time the Jayhawks reached the Final Four in 2002 and the national championship game in 2003. He went on as an assistant for Williams at North Carolina, which won national championships in 2005 and 2009.

This, to me, is a great hire for Brian Mackin and the UAB family. Haase agreed to a five year deal worth $475,000 annually with incentives. It helps that he was affordable with UAB having to pay off Mike Davis $625,000 next year, the value of the last year of his contract. The Blazers also have to pay off Neil Calloway as well, along with paying football coach Garrick McGee and his assistants.

Liked Jerod very much. Very engaging, enthusiastic guy. He said his first goal is to re-recruit the players who are on the team right now. That is important to get guys like point guard Quincy Taylor, shooting guard Jordan Swing, shooting guard Preston Purifoy and power forward Ovie Soko and the other guys on board. The players seemed cautious. They were hit hard with the news of losing Davis, but they’ll need to adjust. I know they’ll like their new coach.

Recruiting cranks up and Haase said he’ll have one assistant in the next day or two. First day of regular signing period is April 11th. Haase will be hitting the ground running. Jerod just seems like a level-headed, enthusiastic guy. He’s just right for a program that is rich in tradition and has the ability to be outstanding going forward. Looks like they’ve got the right leader for it. With the hiring of Haase and McGee in football, BMac has hit a pair of home runs. Like both these hires.  Jerod excited the UAB fan base yesterday. Hopeful he can do that next year on the floor.