UAB got its dress rehearsal without KyeRon Lindsay-Martin. Now the real thing starts against McNeese

UAB spent the exhibition season learning what life looks like without KyeRon Lindsay-Martin. The Blazers lost at Vanderbilt 97-65. They lost at Ole Miss 92-78. They struggled to finish and defend at the basket against two SEC programs without their most experienced frontcourt player on the floor.

Now it counts.

UAB opens the 2026-27 season Saturday against McNeese State at 4:30 p.m. CT in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon at the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center in Rock Hill, S.C. The game will stream on YouTube.

Lindsay-Martin, a 6-foot-8 forward who averaged 10.8 points and 6.4 rebounds last season, is ineligible for the opener after losing his appeal of an NCAA eligibility ruling. A judge removed a stay on the lawsuit that would have allowed him to compete this season. UAB is still pursuing avenues with the NCAA, but a resolution does not appear likely in the near term, as Steve Irvine of the Birmingham Banner first reported.

The absence is significant. Lindsay-Martin is a four-year Division I player who competed at Georgia, Texas Tech, Murray State and UAB. He was the only returning frontcourt option with production on a roster Kennedy rebuilt almost entirely this offseason. In September, Kennedy told Diehard Sports Network that the team's identity hinges on the ruling.

"We're one team with him," Kennedy said at UAB's first media availability of the season on Sept. 24. "Without him, we would honestly schematically have to do a number of different things."

Those different things became visible in the exhibitions. Kennedy told the Birmingham Banner after the Ole Miss loss that frontcourt play is his primary concern heading into the season.

"We're not finishing well at the basket with our frontcourt and we're not defending well at the basket with our frontcourt," Kennedy said. "To me that is the biggest concern as we head into this thing."

The Blazers who take the floor Saturday will be almost entirely new. Eleven of UAB's 13 scholarship players are newcomers. Sophomore guard Salim London, who averaged 4.9 points last season, is the only returning player with significant playing time. The projected starting five leans on perimeter talent: London, senior Justyn Fernandez (Delaware transfer), junior Deuce Jones (St. Joseph's/La Salle transfer, Atlantic 10 Freshman of the Year), junior Jeremy Elyzee (6-foot-7, Southeastern Louisiana transfer) and junior Antallah Sandlin-El (6-foot-9, South Plains transfer, NJCAA All-America).

Kennedy has size on the bench in junior center Matt Mbole (6-foot-11, South Georgia Tech) and sophomore Aleks Alston (6-foot-10, Maryland transfer), but neither made a significant impact in the exhibitions. The perimeter group will carry the offense. Whether it can rebound and defend inside is the open question — and McNeese will test it immediately.

Bill Armstrong's Cowboys went 28-6 last season, won their third straight Southland Conference tournament title and made their third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. McNeese lost to LSU by three in an exhibition and return sophomore guard Larry Johnson, who broke Joe Dumars' 44-year-old freshman scoring record with 597 points and a 17.4 per-game average. Johnson was a finalist for the Kyle Macy Award, given to the nation's top freshman. He scored 30 points against Southern and 22 against LSU in exhibitions.

Armstrong added six high-major transfers, including 6-foot-11 forwards Alier Maluk (Florida State) and Christian Nitu (Florida State/Washington) and guard Dell Warren (Mississippi State), who had 14 assists across two exhibition games. All five McNeese starters reached double figures.

Kennedy told the Birmingham Banner that the opener is a significant NET opportunity.

"McNeese State will be one of the best opportunities we have in our non-league in regards to the NET," Kennedy said. "It's a neutral site game, they have an opportunity, I believe, to be top 50 in the NET. They were like 60-something last year. It's a great opportunity for us so we have to be ready."

The matchup carries a direct UAB connection. Armstrong is an Oneonta native who was a four-year letterman at UAB from 1998 to 2001 and a graduate assistant under Murry Bartow. He played for the Blazers when Kennedy was an assistant on the UAB staff. Kennedy later hired Armstrong at Ole Miss, where Armstrong spent 11 years on the coaching staff before taking the McNeese job.

UAB enters Kennedy's seventh season with a 145-62 record under his watch and six straight 20-win campaigns. The talent on the perimeter suggests another competitive season. But Vanderbilt and Ole Miss exposed the frontcourt gap that Lindsay-Martin was supposed to fill, and McNeese's size and experience will press the same weak point on opening night.