By Kevin Sweeney

With a pair of top frontcourt players in William Lee and Chris Cokley set to graduate after the 2017-18 season, UAB and head coach Robert Ehsan had to add an impact big man for the 2018-19 season.

Ehsan did just that today by adding Detroit transfer Jaleel Hogan, according to Jon Rothstein of FanRag Sports. Hogan will have one year of eligibility remaining after sitting out the 2017-18 season in accordance with NCAA transfer rules.

In Hogan, UAB adds a versatile 6-6 forward who put up excellent numbers this season for Detroit. He averaged 15.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game despite playing less than 27 minutes per game for the Titans. Had Hogan not had just one year of eligibility remaining, or had he been a grad transfer, I believe he would have been a highly sought-after commodity on the transfer market by a slew of high-major programs.

Hogan is a player who could really improve during his redshirt season. If he can improve his free throw shooting from a poor 54% and expand his range on his jumper, Hogan could be a star in the Conference USA. He could also make an impact by staying out of foul trouble, something he struggled to do this past season. He averaged 3.8 fouls per game and fouled out 11 times this season for Detroit.

UAB still has one scholarship remaining for the 2017-18 year with the departure of guard Javien Williams, which was reported today by Drew Champlin of AL.com. Their 2017 recruiting class, the first full class under Ehsan, includes guards Luis Hurtado and Zach Bryant, along with big man Makhtar Gueye. All 3 of those players had high-major offers, per verbalcommits.com.