He was a 1986 Parade All-American and he went on to play for North Carolina State and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Kennedy, a 6'7" forward, was a 1986 Parade All-American, as well as the Mississippi Player of the Year at Louisville High School.

He started his collegiate career at North Carolina State where he was a member of Jim Valvano's 1987 Atlantic Coast Conference championship team.

Following his freshman season, Kennedy transferred to UAB where he played under another legendary coach, Gene Bartow.

From 1988 to 1991, Kennedy was a two-time all-conference performer that led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring at 21.8 points per game in 1991.

[2][3][4][5] He later began a three-year professional career abroad, playing in Greece, the Netherlands, Spain and Puerto Rico.

He had his second ACL tear and subsequently his fifth and final knee operation while playing in Puerto Rico and chose to retire as a player and transition into coaching.

The Rebels then received an NIT berth and won the first round against Appalachian State but fell to the eventual runners-up, Clemson.

After 2 years working with ESPN, on March 20, 2020, Kennedy was hired as the head coach at UAB, replacing Robert Ehsan.

[11] In 2021-22, Kennedy added transfer Jordan Walker in route to UAB's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2015.

[29] Kennedy also became the fastest coach in UAB program history to reach the 100-win milestone (136 games).