NCAA Basketball rewind: Most impactful coaching hires after 2012 season

By Joey Loose | Jun 22, 2021

PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 19: Head coach Kevin Ollie of the Connecticut Huskies yells to his team against the Temple Owls during the second half at the Liacouras Center on February 19, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Connecticut won 64-63. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images) /

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NCAA Basketball Jerod Haase UAB Blazers (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

9. Jerod Haase (UAB)

In the grand scheme of things, the UAB program was still in relative infancy, even if it had been around for over three decades at that point. Long past were the days where Gene Bartow built up the Blazers into a potent mid-major, though the program wasn’t in terrible shape come 2012. Still, former coach Mike Davis was gone, and despite the team making the NCAA Tournament just a year earlier, a new fresh perspective was needed.

The man they turned towards was Jerod Haase, a relatively young assistant who grew up in California. He began his playing career with the Golden Bears before transferring to Kansas under Roy Williams. Haase would spend the entirety of his early coaching career on Williams’ coaching staff, following him to North Carolina in 2012. Clearly, UAB represented his first chance to prove himself as a head coach.

Haase took over the Blazers for four seasons, with each season showing a steady increase in wins. The biggest success actually came in 2015, his third season, leading UAB back to the NCAA Tournament before pulling a huge early upset over 3-seed Iowa State. After a 26-7 final season, Haase was off to Stanford, while the Blazers haven’t exactly been the same since his departure.

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