The death of USF head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim in October rocked the college basketball community. He was the rising star. The player’s coach. The one who was taken all too soon.
Bulls interim coach Ben Fletcher sat at the podium Friday and remembered Abdur-Rahim as USF approaches the midway point of its season – one that’s been marred by tragedy.
Fletcher and Abdur-Rahim coached together since 2019, when they helped transform Kennesaw State from an Atlantic Sun Conference bottom dweller to an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Fletcher followed him to USF when Abdur-Rahim was hired as head coach in 2023.
Naturally, USF named Fletcher as his interim predecessor.
“I’ll be honest with you, the first thing I thought of was that I felt guilty,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher and Abdur-Rahim weren’t just colleagues. They were close friends. Fletcher said that his memory still lives on all across campus.
“Like I’ll be preparing for practice or something like that, and I remember a moment or something he said,” Fletcher said. “And so, it just pops up out of nowhere.”
Abdur-Rahim was more than a coach for USF. His one-year tenure revitalized a program suffering from years of mediocrity. The Bulls won a program-record 25 games last season and appeared in the NIT.
Three USF starters – guard Qunicy Ademokoya, guard Brandon Stroud and forward Kasen Jennings – all played for Abdur-Rahim at Kennesaw State. For them, this season just means something more.
“It’s hard for all of them,” Fletcher said. “But they’re a resilient bunch.”
Ademokya honors his late coach with a tattoo on his lower leg – a portrait of Abdur-Rahim with “legends never die” written underneath.
How has USF responded to an unforeseeable tragedy?
Much like last season, USF had an up-and-down non-conference slate. The Bulls had multiple games decided by one possession and saw leads slip away against the likes of Florida and Loyola Chicago.
But USF has now won four straight, including a dominant 91-72 win over Wichita State on Monday.
USF is now 9-6, including a 2-0 start in AAC play for the first time in program history – a feat not even accomplished by its late coach.
The Bulls will continue to mourn the man taken all too soon. But for them, the best way to honor their late head coach is to just keep playing.
“I think those guys know that we’re playing a lot better,” Fletcher said. “We’re playing the right way, we’re playing up to the standard that coach Amir left, and we got to keep it that way.”
