USF men’s basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim dies at 43

USF 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 due to complications from a medical procedure. Abdur-Rahim is survived by his wife and their three children.

A former all-conference player at Southeastern Louisiana, Abdur-Rahim spent more than a decade as an assistant coach at Murray State, College of Charleston, Texas A&M and Georgia before getting his first gig as a head coach with Kennesaw State in 2019.

He took over a moribund program that had not made the NCAA Tournament in its history since making the jump to Division I in 2005. The team posted a 1-28 record in his first season, but it improved in every season with him at the helm.

The Owls improved to 5-19, then 13-18, then finally 26-9 in 2022-23, with Atlantic Sun titles in the regular season and conference tournament. They also put a scare into 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 best coaching jobs in the country, earning Abdur-Rahim the Hugh Durham Award as the best coach of a mid-major program and a new job with a larger program at USF.

Success came even quick for Abdur-Rahim in Tampa. The Bulls went from 14-18 in 2022-23 to 25-8 last season, winning the program’s first conference regular season title and just missing an NCAA Tournament bid after an upset loss in the conference tournament.

From USF:

With a track record like that, Abdur-Rahim was a name to watch for even bigger programs in the future. Instead, his story ended in tragedy weeks before his second season with USF was set to begin.