University of South Florida men’s basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, a rising star in the collegiate coaching ranks, died Thursday after a battle with an aggressive illness, according to the Tampa Bay Times. He was 43 years old.
USF later confirmed the news, revealing that Abdur-Rahim died due to complications from a medical procedure. Abdur-Rahim is survived by his wife and their three children.
We are deeply saddened by the passing of coach Abdur-Rahim.
A great man and leader with an infectious personality who was a shining light to all he encountered.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and all those on whom he left a lasting impact. pic.twitter.com/h353f3FNno
— USF Men’s Basketball (@USFMBB) October 24, 2024
Abdur-Rahim, the younger brother of NBA veteran Shareef Abdur-Rahim and a former all-conference player at Southeastern Louisiana, spent more than a decade as an assistant coach at Murray State, College of Charleston, Texas A&M and Georgia before joining got his first performance. as head coach at Kennesaw State in 2019.
He took over a moribund program that had not made the NCAA Tournament in its history since jumping to Division I in 2005. The team posted a 1-28 record in his first season, but it improved every season with him on the rudder. .
The Owls improved to 5-19, then 13-18 and finally 26-9 in 2022-23, with Atlantic Sun regular-season and conference tournament titles. They also shocked No. 3 seed Xavier in the first round of their first NCAA tournament berth, taking a 13-point lead in the second half before a cold streak on offense allowed the Musketeers to come back and avoid an upset.
It was one of the top coaching performances in the country and earned Abdur-Rahim the Hugh Durham Award as the top coach of a mid-major program and a new job with a larger program at USF.
Success came even faster for Abdur-Rahim in Tampa. The Bulls went from 14-18 in 2022-23 to 25-8 last season, won the program’s first regular-season title and just missed an NCAA tournament bid after an embarrassing loss in the conference tournament.
From USF:
“All of us at South Florida Athletics join in the mourning with Coach Abdur-Rahim’s loved ones,” said Vice President of Athletics Michael Kelly. “He was authentic, driven and his infectious personality captivated all of Bulls Nation. Coach Abdur-Rahim leaves a lasting impact on our student-athletes, the university and the community. We support those closest to him, including his family, team and athletics staff, to ensure they have the resources they need to cope with this tremendous loss.”
With such a track record, Abdur-Rahim was a name to watch for even bigger programs in the future. Instead, his story ended in tragedy weeks before his sophomore season at USF was set to begin.
