Chance Westry had every reason to give up on his basketball dreams.
Three years removed from his high school graduation, he'd played in just 14 college basketball games, dealing with significant setbacks each year. The game kicked him while he was down.
The shine of a top 40 ranking in the Class of 2022 had almost entirely worn off through the seasons. He was no longer the promising Auburn recruit, or even the high-upside transfer portal addition for Syracuse coming off one injury. He was now 22 years old – turning 23 before the next season would start – and didn't have much of a body of work to show for it.
He could've been beaten down and left for dead by the sport he loved, but he never looked at it that way.
"Adversity builds character," Westry told Basket Under Review. "There's gonna be times where not everything goes right. Just stay down and see the sun through the tunnel."
Westry put his name in the transfer portal, looking for a place where he could pick himself up, dust himself off, and get back on the floor.
UAB head coach Andy Kennedy had a bare cupboard. Every single player to play at all for the Blazers in 2024-25 – a group that won 24 games – wouldn't be part of the team in 2025-26, so he had to take some risks when building out his roster.
"Sometimes you gotta take a chance," Kennedy told Basket Under Review. "We just took a calculated chance on Chance."
What is a better fit for a program that needs to fill a roster than buying low on a player who just needs an opportunity to get back on the floor?
"Not playing kept me going," Westry said. "Building up fuel to not play and watching the games on the sideline."
That chance has paid off for both sides thus far. Westry is leading the Blazers with 21 points per game, also adding four rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest. He debuted with 23 points and three assists against Mississippi Valley State, nearly matching the 27 total points he'd scored in his college career before that game.
Originally from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Westry burst onto the scene early in his high school career with Trinity High School in Camp Hill, where he was the 3A Player of the Year as a sophomore. From there, he played his next two high school seasons at Sierra Canyon and finally, AZ Compass Prep, before enrolling at Auburn, where the setbacks started.
Kennedy never recruited Westry out of high school – UAB would've fallen to the bottom of the totem pole amongst the offers that he piled up. So the first time he was acquainted with Westry came in a preseason scrimmage before his freshman season. However, Westry missed that scrimmage due to a meniscus injury that cost him much of that campaign.
After appearing in just 11 games, he entered the portal and committed to Syracuse.
At Syracuse, Westry became somewhat of an urban legend to the fans. They'd heard about how impactful he could be as a player and longed to see him on the floor, but he was in a constant holding pattern. He had another meniscus injury, missing the entire 2023-24 season. Kennedy noted that essentially the same thing happened to both of Westry's knees.
But to Westry, he found a home in Syracuse's program, one that would help him through the struggles of being unable to play.
"I had a big support system at Syracuse," Westry said. "Some of my best friends are at Syracuse. I'm family-based, and they were there for me."
Westry finally made his Syracuse debut in December of 2024, playing garbage time minutes in a loss to Tennessee. He appeared in the next two games as well, but none after that. Westry cites a sinus infection for his absence in 2024-25, which ended up being a disappointing 14-19 campaign for the Orange
By the end of the season, despite the relationships he'd established in Syracuse, the most logical move for Westry was entering the portal and getting a fresh start.
"I just wanted to get the opportunity to change the narrative on who I am," Westry said. "To have a coach that believes in me is a big deal."
Kennedy stepped up to be the coach who believed in him, but not before doing his due diligence.
Former UAB star Jelly Walker shared mutual connections with Westry, and those people got the coach in touch with him. From there, he had conversations with Bruce Pearl and Red Autry — his former college coaches – to get a feel for the type of person and player he could bring into the program.
Then, on Westry's visit to UAB, Kennedy had the medical staff go through his injury history. He also needed to know where Westry's head was at.
"We did a deep dive on his mentals," Kennedy said. "We're just trying to make sure that he's really committed to trying to right this ship a little bit, and at the end of the day, we felt it was a chance worth taking."
Westry stayed grounded to his faith and his family while off the floor. In the transfer portal, he put his trust in his family and his team to help him determine which situations would be best for him.
He heard questions from coaches about coming back and being himself on the floor, and Kennedy's track record with the UAB program stood out. Westry didn't need to be pitched.
"The program speaks for itself," Westry said. "The wins, the history, the players that came here and did good every year. They got a chance to fix their career."
Once Westry committed, he was ready to roll, but Kennedy knew he'd just taken a risk. He was nervous about Westry's athleticism coming back.
While some players can struggle with confidence coming back from injuries, Westry compared returning to the floor to riding a bike. Through the summer, he worked with UAB's strength coach to build his conditioning, but he immediately made an impression on Kennedy in practices, easing the coach's nerves.
"When I was watching his game," Kennedy said. "He moved a bit like (Steve Smith). I saw the abilities that made him a top 50 guy coming out of high school."
Westry also had to get to know a whole new group of teammates. The Blazers added players from eight different states, plus Puerto Rico, over the offseason, and all of them have their own journeys.
They all had something to prove coming to UAB, and it drew them together from the start. It was just a bunch of kids with the same dream.
"The first day I got here is the same day everyone else got here," Westry said. "We all had different stories because we're a new team coming from different places. It's not just them helping me, it's all of us helping each other. I feel like it was family-based."
As November approached, Westry was raring to go. For the first time since high school, he was entering a basketball season with no restrictions.
"I have a lot to prove," he said. "I'm missing out on a lot of stuff. Just watching the game for a long time made me want to get it back out there and prove something to let people know who I am. Show that I'm still the same player. I can score, I can create for others, and be a great teammate."
He opened up the season with his first career KenPom Game MVP in a blowout win over Mississippi Valley State, and followed it up with two more strong performances in losses to NC State and Alabama State. Westry scored a game-high 22 in just 20 minutes in UAB's 91-74 win over High Point, and then had 21 points in 18 minutes against a non-Division I school.
Back in Syracuse, JJ Starling – who dealt with a minor injury of his own to start this season – has been watching and continuing to support him.
"At the end of the day that's my brother," Starling said. "I'm proud of him. I'm happy to see him live out his dream and do what I knew he was capable of doing."
Starling added that the two talk on FaceTime every day, allowing Westry to feel the support network that he built up over the last two years staying behind him on his next journey.
The narrative is changing. He is still listed as a sophomore, meaning he'd have two more years of eligibility after this one. If he can stay healthy and continue producing the way he has, his once unclear future will beam with light again.
With his emergence as a potential star for UAB early in the season, Kennedy is looking for him to embrace that role like Yaxel Lendeborg did.
"He's got a hunger," Kennedy said. "He's an affable kid, and I'm trying to get the alpha out of him. We had the same thing a little with Yaxel when he first got here. It was just trying to get out of him what we saw with him, and we're in the same process now with Chance."
Basketball – and all sports – has the capacity to teach life lessons. It puts you through the ups and downs. It makes you stay levelheaded, composed, and focused on the future. It teaches you how to take advice, how to work as a team.
But that's a product of falling in love with the game. It's not at the top of mind for a kid just picking up a ball for the first time.
And Chance Westry is a reminder of the beauty of our game.
"It was my dream (to play high-level basketball)," Westry said. "The most important thing is having fun on the court."
