Amir Abdur-Rahim named the 2022-23 Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year

[usfrank]

KENNESAW, Ga. – Amir Abdur-Rahim has been named the 2022-23 Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year for leading Kennesaw State to its first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament appearance, CollegeInsider.com announced on Thursday. The award honors the legacy of the only coach in NCAA history to be the winningest coach at three different schools (Jacksonville, Florida State, Georgia), and is given to the top Division I mid-major coach in the nation.
 
Under Abdur-Rahim, who stepped down on Wednesday to accept the head position at South Florida, the Owls became one of the top stories in college basketball this season. Picked eighth in the preseason ASUN coach's poll, KSU completed a sweep of the conference regular season and tournament championships, thanks largely to the first two Top-50 wins in school history, a pair of home victories over Liberty. That earned the Owls their first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament, setting a record as the fastest team to ever reach the tournament after a one-win season, taking just three seasons. The 14^th-seeded Owls took third-seeded Xavier to the limit, nearly pulling off the first round upset on March 17 in Greensboro in what was a one-point game in the final seconds before eventually falling 72-67.

[Triple B]

From the the article on CollegeInsider.com .... Odom won the award in 2018.

“Amir Abur-Rahim has built a program that will compete for a long time,” said Angela Lento, Vice President of CollegeInsider.com. “Not only has he done it with a little old school flavor of discipline and high accountability, but he also has relevance with his players. They will tell you that their head coach is cool. Kennesaw State has gone from off the map to an attractive destination for players. What a season.”

 

 

[Friscobull]

[Bull Matrix]

Nice!! Seems that MK did his homework. More on this to follow….

[belgianbull]

9 minutes ago, Triple B said:

From the the article on CollegeInsider.com .... Odom won the award in 2018.

“Amir Abur-Rahim has built a program that will compete for a long time,” said Angela Lento, Vice President of CollegeInsider.com. “Not only has he done it with a little old school flavor of discipline and high accountability, but he also has relevance with his players. They will tell you that their head coach is cool. Kennesaw State has gone from off the map to an attractive destination for players. What a season.”

 

 

One of benefits that both Golesh and Rahim will have over former coaches like Holtz, Scott, Gregory... is that they are both younger, hip, full of energy, and relatable to recruits. Don't know if that will lead to more wins, but hopefully it leads to better recruiting.

edit: guess Scott is around the same age, but no one could say he was hip, and I mean no offense

Edited March 30, 2023 by belgianbull

[SilverBull]

Ironically, there was once a push to get Hugh Durham to USF but that never panned out, so I guess this is just as good.

[Ricky the Bull]

 

[Brad]

1 hour ago, belgianbull said:

edit: guess Scott is around the same age, but no one could say he was hip, and I mean no offense

You probably never saw him dance.

[El_Toro_86]

1 hour ago, Brad said:

You probably never saw him dance.

 

[Outlaw]

2 hours ago, El_Toro_86 said:

 

The locker room dj for the byu game really had the guys dancing to show USF fans all the progress they made in the offseason with this bottom feeder culture change.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Outlaw