It has been a season of first’s for the USF Bulls basketball program.
The most significant turnaround in program history is a program-high 13-game winning streak, which is currently the second longest in the nation.
A 14-1 record in conference play is the most conference wins since the Bulls won 12 in the Big East Conference in 2011-12.
Another first happened Monday when the AP Top 25 basketball poll was released, and the USF Bulls made their program debut at number 25.
The Bulls also moved eight spots in the NCAA Net rankings to number 84, which goes a long way to determining at-large bids for the NCAA tournament.
The NCAA Net rankings be damned, the Bulls are projected to be an 11th seed according to ESPN and would play Colorado State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The USF men’s basketball program has never been ranked in the top 25 until today.
All the success that the USF Basketball program has garnered this season reinforces that Amir Abdur-Rahim was the right coach at the right time for this basketball program.
Abdur-Rahim is one of the most humble coaches you will ever meet. He takes no credit for the turnaround. Instead, he deflects that praise onto his assistant coaches and will talk about the players and all the hard work they have put in to get the program to this point.
But Abdur-Rahim, his vision for the program, and the culture he has created are paving the way for long-term success at USF.