UAB elevates Rob Ehsan to become men's basketball coach

Apr 4, 2016 - 10:22 PM BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) UAB's nine-day search for a head men's basketball coach ended with the promotion of assistant Robert Ehsan.

Blazers athletic director Mark Ingram announced on Monday that associate head coach Ehsan would replace Jerod Haase. Ehsan, 33, will be formally introduced on Tuesday.

He spent the past four seasons as an assistant under Haase, who left to take over the Stanford program. Ehsan was associate head coach when UAB won the past two Conference USA championships.

''Rob has been an integral part of the resurgence of UAB basketball, and he emerged as the clear-cut choice to be our head coach after an exhaustive, national search that included candidates from all corners of the basketball world,'' Ingram said.

Ehsan spent one season as an assistant at Virginia Tech and six under Gary Williams at Maryland, where he helped recruit two Top 25 classes.

UAB made the second round of the NCAA Tournament two seasons ago, followed by a trip to the NIT.

''I have been fortunate to hone my craft with coaches like Gary Williams, Seth Greenburg and Jerod Haase,'' Ehsan said. ''It will be a natural step to now lead our very talented team to continued growth.''

No details were released on the contract, which still has to be approved by the compensation committee of the University of Alabama System board of trustees

Ingram led the search with the help of a committee comprised of donors, faculty members, former basketball players, campus administrators and athletics staff.

Ehsan and Ingram met with the team Monday afternoon to discuss the program's future.

''It was a great meeting with a lot of excitement,'' Ehsan said. ''This is a team that is dedicated to building on our momentum and continuing what we've started. I think we are all thrilled to be doing this together, and we're ready to work.''