The AAC names award after Abdur-Rahim
MBB: The former Murray State assistant coach passed away in October
The American Athletic Conference has announced they plan to honor the memory and legacy of former South Florida Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, who tragically passed away last October.
The AAC has named Abdur-Rahim the Honorary 2024-25 American Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year. AAC Commissioner Tim Pernetti will present the award to Abdur-Rahim’s family at South Florida’s February 6th home game against Temple. The conference has also pledged to donate $15,000, the amount of Abdur-Rahim’s contractual bonus for being named Coach of the Year, to the Future Foundation, a non-profit organization that Abdur-Rahim was involved with for years.
Along with that award, the AAC will permanently change the name of their annual men’s basketball sportsmanship award to The Amir Abdur-Rahim Sportsmanship Award. In a statement, the conference said the award ‘will be presented annually to the men’s basketball student-athlete who, as determined by the league's head coaches, best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship, fair play and leadership.’
“It's just another way to continue to honor his legacy and make sure that he's not forgotten, that we can always remember him and his impact,” Murray State Head Coach Steve Prohm said. Prohm was an assistant coach at Southeastern Louisiana during Abdur-Rahim’s playing days, before the two worked with each other under Kennedy at Murray State. “It's the theme for our team this season — love wins. We’ve just got to continue to be dangerously unselfish, like he preached to his team. I’m happy that (the AAC is) doing that. Obviously it's a tragic story, but I’m just trying to stay in touch with his wife and children, and continue to check on them.”
Abdur-Rahim began his coaching career at Murray State during Kennedy’s first season in 2006-07. Abdur-Rahim spent two seasons as a graduate assistant before Kennedy promoted him to Assistant Coach for the 2008-09 season. After three years on the Murray State staff, Abdur-Rahim had assistant coaching stops at Georgia Tech, Charleston, Texas A&M and Georgia before earning his first head coaching job at Kennesaw State in 2019.
After a 1-28 season in his first year at Kennesaw, Abdur-Rahim flipped the program upside down. By his fourth season, the Owls made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in their program’s history after a 26-9 campaign in 2022-23.
Last season, Abdur-Rahim, in his first year at South Florida, led the Bulls to a 25-8 record and the program’s first-ever AAC regular season championship.
Abdur-Rahim passed away at the age of 43 back in October. If you’d like to find out more information about the Future Foundation, or to donate, you can click here.
Love this!!!
Well Deserved! #Love Wins!