Following the death of their coach, USF Basketball is still grieving but moving on

TAMPA, Fla. – As Ben Fletcher mourns the death of South Florida men's basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, he has been looking through texts he exchanged with his former competitor, two-time boss and longtime friend.

“He always said, 'Man, you're ready,'” Fletcher said. “'God is preparing you for this. Soon you will get your chance and show everyone what you are capable of.'”

Fletcher choked up Tuesday as he recalled that news. The biggest opportunity of Fletcher's career comes with his role as interim coach of the Bulls. But that's only because Abdur-Rahim – the man who prepared him for this phase and one of the biggest rising stars in his industry – is dead.

“It's a difficult time … but I know coach Amir wants me to do this,” Fletcher said.

Details of Abdur-Rahim's death last week at age 43 remain secret, except for a statement from the school that he died as a result of a medical procedure at a local hospital.

Athletic director Michael Kelly received the call Thursday at 1:58 p.m. Forty-seven minutes later, he was at the Bulls basketball facility trying to process the news with the team. It was difficult to understand. Just two weeks earlier, Abdur-Rahim had called him on a trip to Disney World because he was ready to “see my little girl smile at this birthday party.”

Since his coach's death, Kelly said he has heard condolences from every conference commissioner, every American Athletic Conference athletic director and the president of ESPN. All because of the influence of a coach who was in South Florida for just 576 days.

“He connected everyone he ever touched,” Kelly said.

This was evidenced by the many flowers and USF gear that fans laid last week at the makeshift memorial, the bull statue in front of the basketball arena. They're gone now and the box of tissues under a black tablecloth during Tuesday's press conference was never used.

The program revitalized by Abdur-Rahim is beginning to make slow progress under Fletcher as he remembers the late coach's legacy.

After canceling Saturday's scrimmage against Miami, the Bulls will face Edward Waters as scheduled on Wednesday night at Yuengling Center Court before Monday's opener against No. 21 Florida. It was the players' decision.

“We wouldn't speak up until I knew absolutely that they wanted it and they were ready for it,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher will also try to be ready, despite the grief that continues to come in waves. He had known Abdur-Rahim for more than two decades, since they met on the court in 2002, when Fletcher was a three-point specialist at Troy and Abdur-Rahim was an all-conference guard at Southeastern Louisiana. Abdur-Rahim hired Fletcher as one of his assistants when he took over Kennesaw State in 2019. Fletcher followed him to South Florida, where they won the Bulls' first-ever regular-season conference title and a school-record 25 games together.

The turnaround earned Abdur-Rahim a unanimous AAC Coach of the Year award — an individual accolade that didn’t feel right. After Kelly presented him with the trophy earlier this year, Abdur-Rahim vowed to correct the engraving; Instead of “Coach of the Year” there should be “Employee of the Year.”

As Kelly and Fletcher walked down the steps of the basketball facility Tuesday morning to discuss the program's future without their beloved coach, Kelly paused to look at the trophy. Sure enough.

Employee of the year.

“He kept the promises he said he would keep,” Kelly said. “We are honored that he chose to share part of his journey with us.”

(Photo by Michael Kelly and Ben Fletcher: Matt Baker / The athlete)