The University of Alabama Birmingham has chosen interim football coach Alex Mortensen to coach the Blazers going forward.

The son of the late ESPN analyst Chris Mortensen took over when ex-NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer was dismissed during the season. The reported other finalists were Presbyterian College’s Steve Englehart, who piloted the Blue Hose to a 10-2 record in his fourth year, and Ryan Beard, whose Missouri State team went 7-5 this season.

Mortensen coached UAB to wins over Memphis and Tulsa late in the season. Dilfer’s firing was hastened by an incident in which two UAB players were stabbed by a teammate.

Englehart served as head coach at Rose-Hulman (Ind.) and Florida Tech before taking the PC job in 2022. He is 21-25 with the Blue Hose after producing successive records of 1-10, 4-7, 6-6 and 10-2. The last was the third 10-win season in Presbyterian history.

Furman midfielder Diego Hernandez is one of five finalists for Top Drawer Soccer Player of the Year honors.

 Hernandez, a junior and team captain, has guided Furman to a 15-1-5 record, Southern Conference regular season and tournament titles, and a berth in the NCAA quarterfinals. The Mesquite, Texas, native, who has started all 21 matches for the Paladins, ranks second in the SoCon in goals (10), first in assists (9), and first in total points (29). He was named SoCon Player of the Year and received most outstanding player honors after leading the Paladins to the SoCon Tournament title last month.

The Paladins, 16^th seeded, face No. 8 seed Portland in quarterfinal round action on Friday night at 10 at Merlo Field in Portland, Ore.

Friday’s quarterfinal match is to be streamed live on ESPN+.

Friday night’s high-school basketball schedule consists of Belton-Honea Path at Clinton (girls 6 p.m.. boys 7:30), Spartanburg Day at Laurens Academy (girls 6), Palmetto Guardians at Laurens Academy (boys 7:30) and Dixie at Thornwell (6/7:30).

On Saturday, Laurens wrestles at Fountain Inn (9 a.m.).

Newberry basketball visits Clinton (6/7:30) on Monday.

On Tuesday, Rock Hill visits the Laurens girls (7:30), Grace Christian at Laurens Academy (G/B, 6/7:30) and Thornwell at Calhoun Falls (G/B, 6/7:30).

Thus far, the Clinton girls are 5-0 with recent victories over Chapman (35-32) and BHP (61-21). The boys are 0-2 with losses to Chapman (51-40) and BHP (55-45).

Laurens is 4-1 in girls’ basketball and 2-5 in boys.

Laurens Academy is 4-1 in girls and boys 2-2.

Thornwell Charter is 1-1 in girls and 0-3 in boys.

On Friday and Saturday, Presbyterian participates in the Cliff Koon Invitational in Las Vegas.

Morehead State (3-6) visits Presbyterian (5-6) in men’s basketball on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Harvard (5-5) visits Furman (5-4) in men’s basketball on Saturday, also at 2. The Paladins have won five of their last six games.

Four Laurens Academy football standouts — Nathan Bell, Ethan Collins, Caleb Hardy and Garrison Vaughan — are playing in Friday’s SCISA Eight-Man North-South Game on Friday at Robert E. Lee Academy in Bishopville at 4 p.m.

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