Birmingham, AL (Sports Network) - Former UAB head men's basketball coach and athletic director Gene Bartow has been diagnosed with cancer.

Bartow, 78, served as the Blazers' head coach from 1977 to 1996 and was named one of the seven members for induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

"Coach Bartow is the person most responsible for this athletics program and means so much to UAB and all Blazers," current school athletic director Brian Mackin said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Coach Bartow and his family. Coach will no doubt fight this with the same spirit he coached with for so many years."

Bartow is one of 11 coaches to take two different schools to the Final Four, having guided then-Memphis State and UCLA to the national semifinals in his collegiate coaching tenure. He has also coached for Central Missouri State, Valparaiso and Illinois.

He is currently the president of the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies.