In the aftermath of the University of Alabama-Birmingham football team’s disbandment, players scattered throughout the country in search of a new home. On Tuesday, one player landed in Amherst.

On Tuesday evening, the Massachusetts football team announced the signing of 5-foot-11, 186-pound senior defensive back Kelton Brackett.

After the Blazers’ program termination following the 2014 season, players from their program were allowed to transfer schools without being forced to sit out for a season because of the NCAA policy, meaning Brackett can start participating with the team immediately.

In his career at UAB, Brackett appeared in 32 games, starting in 10 of those. Brackett finished his career with 64 tackles, nine pass break-ups, three forced fumbles and an interception in his three seasons on the team.

“We are excited to have Kelton join us,” head coach Mark Whipple said in a press release. “Not only is he a veteran defensive back, but he is a great person and a great student.”

Brackett joins an already experienced defensive secondary that returns five players – Joey Colton, Khary Bailey-Smith, Randall Jette, Trey Dudley-Giles and Jackson Porter – that all saw action in the secondary this past season.

Whipple said on signing day that one of his team’s biggest focuses moving forward for the 2015 season was adapting to the spread-heavy Mid American Conference and as a result of that will likely feature more nickel packages that Brackett can be used in.

Coming out of Blount High School in Mobile, Alabama, Brackett was a three-star recruit and was rated at the No. 35 overall recruit in the state of Alabama. He also had offers from Florida International, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisville coming out of high school.

Andrew Cyr can be reached at [email protected], and can be followed on Twitter on @Andrew_Cyr.