Toney’s work payING off ON offensive END FOR Blazers

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - January 12, 2025

His approach, Tony Toney said, was different heading into his fifth and final basketball season at UAB.

The 6-foot-2 Huntsville native, who is known more for his hustle, floor burns and intangibles than shooting the basketball, changed things up during his final summer as a Blazer. He took time to refine his outside shooting.

“I got in the gym and worked all summer,” Toney said. “Every day. It was just catch-and-shoot, more like just shooting the ball so I get my technique down. Right foot, left foot down, snapping the right leg around, everything that (UAB head coach Andy Kennedy) preaches.”

His instructions from Kennedy were to make 500 shots a day. He worked with UAB staff members daily and would stay until he reached his goal.

“Everything was quick, off-the-move and it was just making shots,” said Toney.

The numbers show the work paid off. He’s already set a career-best for 3-pointers made in a season, hitting 20 in the first 16 games. He is coming off a career-best five 3-pointers made in Tuesday’s win over Tulane. Toney made 11-of-27 3-pointers during the first 12 games and was 9-of-23 over the past four games. He’s third on the team in made 3-pointers, behind Tyren Moore (28) and Efrem “Butta” Johnson (23), and is currently hitting a team-high 40.7 percent from outside the arc. In the four seasons prior, Toney was a combined 36 of 108 (33 percent) on 3-pointers.

It’s certainly not a secret where the improvement came from.

“Tony works, man,” said Kennedy, whose team opens up a two-game Florida trip against FAU on Sunday at 4 p.m. CT. “He's worked since the day he's gotten here. That's why he's gotten better, that's why he's played more.”

Toney will always have a special place with Kennedy. The Mae Jemison High graduate was Kennedy’s first recruit after returning to his alma mater to take over the program. His recruitment came entirely on Zoom calls because of Covid-19 restrictions at the time. Toney committed to the Blazers eight days after Kennedy took over as the head coach.

“I'm a lot different player now,” Toney said of his growth over the five years. “I think the game differently. I see stuff that I didn't see when was first here, like the way plays are set up, switches, shooting the gap, things like that.”

One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the energy and fearlessness that Toney brings to the team. Part of the toughness comes from his days as a football player. He played on both sides of the football all the way up to his senior season at Mae Jemison. He said UAB was the first school to offer him a football scholarship to play safety and others followed. He said he received interest from Auburn and Clemson, which was coming off a national championship at the time.

He chose basketball as his college path and is on track to finish his degree in business management in May. He also wants to complete his time in college basketball in style.

“Yeah, I just want to win,” Toney said. “Whatever it takes, that's what I'm going to do.”