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UAB Basketball: Ryan Boyce commits to the Blazers

By Lukas Harkins

LOUISVILLE, KY - MARCH 21: The mascot of the UAB Blazers against the UCLA Bruins during the third round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at KFC YUM! Center on March 21, 2015 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY - MARCH 21: The mascot of the UAB Blazers against the UCLA Bruins during the third round of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at KFC YUM! Center on March 21, 2015 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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UAB basketball has missed the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons. Is Ryan Boyce the recruit that will lead the Blazers back to the Big Dance?

The Conference-USA is typically a one-bid league for the NCAA Tournament, which makes it hard for their teams to make continuous runs to the best postseason tournament in college hoops. Although Middle Tennessee State has made back-to-back appearances (with two victories as well), all it takes is one loss in the conference tournament for a team to miss the Big Dance, regardless of how good their regular season was.

Even though UAB did have a stretch of three straight appearances from 2004-06, they have only reached the NCAA Tournament twice in the last 11 seasons. In the first year under new head coach Rob Ehsan last season, they also had one of their toughest seasons in recent history, finishing just over .500 at 17-16 overall.

Looking forward to the future, things are starting to look bright. On Oct. 13, the program received a commitment from Ryan Boyce, a talented forward from Tennessee. Ranked at No. 142 (class of 2018) in the country by 247Sports Composite ranking, this is the most highly-rated recruit that UAB has received a commitment from since Keenan Ellis (No. 124) in the class of 2007.

In addition to his high rankings, Boyce chose UAB over several high-major programs, including Florida and Maryland, who also gave him offers.

For Coach Ehsan, this is a big-time recruit that sets his team up very well for the future. There is still time for other schools to sign recruits for the class of 2018, but UAB currently holds the lead with the best class in the C-USA, thanks in large to Boyce.

As a player, Boyce is an elite scorer. At 6’5″, he has solid size to play on the wing and he is able to get things done in a variety of ways. He will be an instant-impact player as a freshman starting in 2018-19 and could make a major splash in the conference.

Very few recruits as highly-ranked as Boyce elect to play in the C-USA and he could be the type of player to really shake up the rankings. Middle Tennessee State has dominated the standings in the past two seasons with a combined conference record of 30-6, but maybe UAB will find themselves back in the dance soon.

Boyce made his commitment via Twitter:

https://twitter.com/RyanBoyce70/status/918967669893881856

Next: 2017-18 preseason Big Ten predictions

UAB Basketball has missed the Big Dance in back-to-back seasons due to the emergence of Middle Tennessee State, but with the commitment of Ryan Boyce, they could be heading in the direction. Are the Blazers on the road to returning to the NCAA Tournament and can Boyce be the man to lead them back? Those are the questions.