Will Wade’s Wolfpack Eye Another Statement in Matchup With UAB

RALEIGH — The season opener went about as well as NC State athletic director Boo Corrigan could've hoped when he hired Will Wade to lead the men's basketball program last March.

Wade and his Wolfpack throttled NC Central in front of a packed Lenovo Center to get the 'Red Reckoning' underway. With the new era officially started, each game offers a new challenge to Wade's remade roster. The Wolfpack is ready to take on Alabama-Birmingham on Friday night.

The Blazers lost a lot after a deep run in the 2025 NIT, but remain a consistent force under head coach Andy Kennedy. Wade's radar is certainly up in the days before the Blazers arrive in Raleigh.

What to Expect from UAB

The Blazers are two seasons removed from winning the AAC Tournament and making the NCAA Tournament for the second time in Kennedy's tenure. However, many of the critical pieces from the postseason darlings of the last four seasons are gone, forcing Kennedy to completely rebuild on the fly.

The most notable departure was that of forward Yaxel Lendeborg, a two-time first-team All-AAC honoree. He took his talents to Michigan. The Blazers' starting lineup in the season opener consisted of five new players, led by Syracuse transfer Chance Westry.

Westry has 18 with this three ball! pic.twitter.com/TA6XYdH5EK
— UAB Men's Basketball (@UAB_MBB) November 4, 2025

The Blazers, like NC State, dominated in their season opener, hanging 106 points on Mississippi Valley State of the SWAC. Five members of the team finished the game with double-digit scoring outputs, as Westry led the way with 23. DePaul transfer Jacob Meyer contributed 22 points in the win as well. Wade believes Kennedy's program might be closer to the power conferences than expected.

“They've played four straight years in their conference title game... This is equivalent to playing a middle to bottom-end ACC team. This is going to be a Quad-2 game," Wade said on the "Wolfpack Weekly" radio show. "It’ll be a big test for us."

Kennedy has roots in Raleigh as well, making it an important game for him. He began his collegiate playing career with NC State in 1986 under Jim Valvano before he transferred to UAB to play for Gene Bartow. In six seasons coaching the Blazers, Kennedy is 126-50, one of the best marks for any coach in the country in that stretch.

Wade added that the Blazers were top-10 in the country in transition scoring in the 2024-25 season. It's clear between this game and the NC Central matchup that Wade wanted his team to play against teams that like to run early in the season, as the Eagles also played high-octane transition offense.

UAB's starting big, KyeRon Lindsay, overlapped with Darrion Williams in Lubbock back in the 2023-24 season. Lindsay played in just six games for the Red Raiders and ultimately transferred to Murray State after one season with Williams. At 6-foot-8, he'll be a solid test for Ven-Allen Lubin as another undersized five.

The Blazers and the Wolfpack will get things going at the Lenovo Center at 9 P.M. EST on Friday. The game will be available on ACC Network for those unaffected by the ESPN/YouTube TV dispute.

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