USF Mourns The Loss Of Basketball Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim

I had just sat down and opened my iPad to check the latest news and couldn’t believe what I saw. When you first heard the news, many of you were driving home from work and had just turned on the radio.

USF basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, married and father of three, passed away Thursday at the age of 43 due to complications from a surgical procedure.

I immediately thought it was fake news. This could not be real. A man so young, so full of enthusiasm for life and basketball, is now gone.

But, just minutes later, I found it, unfortunately, to be true.

Then, I began asking my questions, which there were no answers to.

Why does God always take the good people from us? Those people who live their lives right, do the right thing and help others in the community. Unfortunately, we will never get an answer.

We can be thankful, however, that Abdur-Rahim was in our community for the amount of time he was and that he touched so many lives in a positive way.

No one has come into a community and made the kind of impact that Abdur-Rahim made in Tampa and the USF community in the short time he was with us.

Consider what Abdur-Rahim achieved in just his first season as USF basketball coach.

  • Led the Bulls on a 15-game winning streak
  • Regular season AAC champions
  • 1st ever AP top 25 ranking in school history
  • Set a USF record for wins in a season with 25

The sky was the limit for what Abdur-Rahim could have accomplished at USF, but unfortunately, we will never get to envision it. We will only be able to dream about what could have been.

Abdur-Rahim treated everyone he encountered with respect. That was evident just by watching the coach interact with his players in his post-game press conference. It didn’t matter if it was a starter or a player off the bench. He treated everyone with the same respect, and the player, in turn, had the utmost respect for Coach Abdur-Rahim.

He inspired his players to believe they could accomplish anything, including winning the AAC title, which they did, and eventually, competing in the NCAA Tournament.

He also taught his players that good things would happen if they played for one another and cared for one another on and off the court. He had this uncanny ability to bring people together and instill confidence and an unshakeable belief in them.

The Bulls held a team meeting after the trip to the Northeast to Hofstra and UMass during the 23-24 season. They played selfishly, did not get teammates involved, and did not play as a cohesive unit.

That meeting was the turning point of the season. The Bulls would go on to beat a ranked Florida State team in their next game, 88-72. That win would start their journey to a record season, ending in winning the AAC championship.

Abdur-Rahim was a man of faith. He would begin each post-game press conference with the phrase, “All praise to the Almighty. ” The coach never forced his faith on anyone but wasn’t afraid to let people know he was a Christian man. He let his Christian faith speak through the way he treated everyone he encountered, and as a result, he left those he encountered feeling better about themselves.

The coach was passionate about developing the young men he coached and wanted to see them become productive citizens, good husbands and fathers, and pillars in their community.

To Coach, this was the most essential function of his job as head basketball coach at USF. Former USF player Kasean Pryor, who transferred to Louisville over the summer, wrote on Instagram that “in only a short year of being together, you helped to change my life forever.”

Like every other coach, he was passionate about winning basketball games. He wanted to win every game, but he felt his number one mission was developing the young men he met every day, not winning basketball games.

Abdur-Rahim was able to channel his emotions and never wore them on his sleeve. I never saw him get in a player’s face and light them up on the bench after a botched play like we see some other coaches do. He was composed and always in control of his emotions.

So many things we learned from coach Amir Abdur-Rahim.

Although our hearts are heavy and sadness will linger for a while, let’s be thankful that Amir Abdur-Rahim was with us for the short time that he was.

USF President Rhea Law issued this statement on the passing of Amir Abdur-Rahim. “In his first season as our head coach, he brought an unmatched enthusiasm, achieved unprecedented success, and helped generate unforgettable memories for Bulls Nation. Throughout my time working with coach Abdur-Rahim, I was continually inspired by his leadership and truly admired his sincere approach to connecting with our entire student body. His influence on our student-athletes, coaching staff, and the university community will live on forever.”

A celebration of life is scheduled for Saturday, November 2nd at 11 AM. The public is invited.

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