Kennesaw State men’s basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim is leaving his position with the Owls to take the coaching job at South Florida, the schools announced Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know:
Abdur-Rahim, 42, is replacing former South Florida coach Brian Gregory in the role.
Gregory was fired on March 10 following a 14-18 season. He had a 79-107 record in six seasons with the Bulls.
Abdur-Rahim led Kennesaw State to the ASUN title and its first NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
Is this a surprise?
Yes. And no. Abdur-Rahim is from the Atlanta area and went to high school 15 minutes from the Kennesaw State campus. He has family in the area and loved returning home to build the Owls from a 1-28 team in 2019-20 to 26-9 this season with a conference championship. His intention was to stay and the school’s intention was to keep him, especially given plans for KSU to move from the ASUN to Conference USA in 2024.
