South Florida basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim dies at 43: Led Bulls to AAC regular-season title in first year

Amir Abdur-Rahim, the coach of South Florida's men's basketball program, has died. The tragic and unexpected news was announced by the university on Thursday. He was 43 years old.

Abdur-Rahim was undergoing a medical procedure at a Tampa-area hospital when he died as a result of the procedure.

Abdur-Rahim had been a rising coaching star in recent years and had made a formidable name for himself as a quick-fix magician. Off the field, his reputation was highly regarded throughout the sport. The Bulls posted a 25-8 record last season, Abdur-Rahim's first season with the program, went 16-2 in the American Athletic Conference and improved USF's win total by 11 games over the previous year. The Bulls' AAC regular-season title was the first in school history; The team's 25 wins were also a single-season school record. Thanks to a school-best 15 home winning streak, USF broke into the AP Top 25 in the 2023-24 season under Abdur-Rahim, marking the first time in program history that the school achieved such success.

He has literally changed broken programs for the better, several times in a short window of time in his rapid success story in college basketball.

Before joining USF, Abdur-Rahim coached Kennesaw State to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023. In four years, he went from coaching a one-win program in his first season at Kennesaw State to leading a 26th-ranked team -9 group play by the ASUN, which nearly upset Xavier in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In his four years at Kennesaw State, Abdur-Rahim's teams at least doubled their win total from the previous season. Prior to Abdur-Rahim's coaching job, no school had ever gone from a one-win season to reaching the NCAA Tournament in four seasons.

With 18 years of coaching experience, Abdur-Rahim was widely recognized and well-connected throughout college basketball. During his rise in college basketball, he won multiple Coach of the Year awards at his many stops. Overall, he posted a 70-82 record in five seasons at USF and Kennesaw State.

His 2023 press conference at USF showcased so much of what made Abdur-Rahim such a magnetic presence.

Abdur-Rahim is a native of Marietta, Georgia, and graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2004. As a player, he was a three-time All-Southland guard. He earned his master's degree from Murray State University. He was an aspiring assistant for years before being promoted to head the Kennesaw State program, most notably helping to recruit Anthony Edwards, the NBA's future No. 1 prospect, when Abdur-Rahim was on staff at the University of Georgia.

Abdur-Rahim was the younger brother of Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who spent 13 seasons in the NBA.

Amir Abdur-Rahim leaves behind his wife Arianne Buchanan and three small children: daughters Laila and Lana and son Aydin.