South Florida hires Amir Abdur-Rahim from Kennesaw State
TAMPA, Fla., (Mar. 29, 2023) – South Florida has hired Kennesaw State head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim as the Bulls’ men’s basketball coach. BullsInsider.com originally broke the news on our premium message board Wednesday morning.
He replaces Brian Gregory, who was fired March 10 after six seasons. The Bulls have yet to finish .500 in conference play since joining the American Athletic Conference in 2013.
Abdur-Rahim’s name surfaced as soon as the USF job opened and he has been in all three of our coaching candidate hot boards.
"Everything that we were looking for in a leader for our men's basketball program, we found in Amir," Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Kelly said. "He is a man of high character who is a proven recruiter, program-builder, and winner that creates unparalleled student-athlete experiences. In our conversations, it became clear that he has a vision for USF Basketball and his enthusiasm and tenacity will rally Bulls Nation around our men's basketball program. I welcome Amir, his wife, Arianne, and their children, Laila, Lana and Ayden to Team USF."
A standout guard at Wheeler High School in Marietta, GA, Abdur-Rahim has a proven track record of winning as a player and a coach with nearly 20 years of experience developing and recruiting talented athletes out of the south.
Abdur-Rahim transformed Kennesaw State from a one-win team three years ago to ASUN champions and a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the school's Division I era (2005-06). The Owls earned a No. 14 seed after a school-record season in which they became the first school to ever go from a one-win season to the tournament in just three years.
KSU was defeated in the first round of the tournament by No. 3 seed Xavier to end its season 26-9 overall and 15-3 in the ASUN – marking the first time the Owls finished above .500 overall or in conference play as a Division I program.
Abdur-Rahim spent one season on Tom Crean's staff at Georgia following four years as an assistant at Texas A&M and two years at the College of Charleston. He also worked five years at Murray State and one season as Georgia Tech's director of player development.
Abdur-Rahim's older brother Shareef Abdur-Rahim played 13 years in the NBA and is president of the NBA's G League.