Ex-UAB player from Centennial lands at Murray State

Wes Drewery, a long snapper from Centennial who was a player at Alabama-Birmingham, which shut down its football program, has found a new place to play.

Drewery signed with Murray State on Tuesday.

He was a redshirt freshman at UAB this past season. He will enroll at Murray in January and go through spring practice with the Racers.

"It's close to home, and they have the education programs that I am looking for,"" Drewery said. "I'm certain that I will play right away, and I'm looking forward to spring ball."

Drewery will be eligible to play in 2015.

UAB President Ray Watts shut down the football program the week after the Blazers finished the regular season with a 45-24 win over Southern Miss, citing financial reasons. UAB posted a 6-6 record.

UAB said in a release that it subsidizes $20 million of the athletic department's operating budget of some $30 million annually, and said both those numbers rank fifth in Conference USA.

The university said the difference over the next five years would be an extra $49 million with football, including a projected $22 million needed for football facilities and upgrades

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 and on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.