Kennesaw State to honor legacy of late coach Amir Abdur-Rahim

When Amir Abdur-Rahim was being courted to become the head basketball coach at South Florida, his first thoughts weren’t about how he would be making a life-changing step in his career. He was foremost worried about how his departure would impact the Kennesaw State players he would be leaving behind.

“It was a struggle for him to leave Kennesaw,” recalled his older brother, Shareef Abdur-Rahim. “He’s probably tripling his salary, and it was everything he had been working for, but he was like, ‘Man, if I leave, what about this person and that person.’ I told him they’d be OK, and this was the progression of it all, but that’s authentically who he was.”

A servant’s attitude and the willingness to help others, regardless of the cost or inconvenience, were among the hallmarks of the life of Amir Abdur-Rahim, who tragically died at age 43 on Oct. 24, 2024, because of complications during a surgical procedure.

Those characteristics which made him such an impactful and beloved figure are among the reasons he will be honored when Kennesaw State hosts South Florida at 2 p.m. Sunday in a game between the two schools that Abdur-Rahim served as head coach. The teams will play again next season at South Florida.

The game is dubbed “Love Wins,” which was Abdur-Rahim’s personal mantra and a phrase that South Florida has incorporated on a new set of uniforms it will debut Sunday. He will be honored in a ceremony at halftime and next week will be inducted into the Kennesaw State Athletics Hall of Fame.

“I think he would say, ‘To God be the glory,’” Shareef Abdur-Rahim said. “He would give thanks to our parents, and he would thank all the people that were a part of it with him. Without a doubt, that would be his reaction.”

Current Kennesaw State coach Antoine Pettway agreed. “He wouldn’t want it to be all about him, but he left a legacy. Everybody knows the kind of coach he was, but he was just an outstanding human being. He deserves this honor. He deserves more, honestly.”

Amir Abdur-Rahim grew up in Cobb County and played at Wheeler High School, just like his older brother Shareef, who went on star at the University of California and spent 12 seasons in the NBA. He is now the president of the G League.

Amir played one season at Garden City (Kan.) Community College before spending three seasons at Southeastern Louisiana, where he was a three-time all-conference player. He opted to pursue a coaching track and was an assistant at Murray State, Charleston, Texas A&M and Georgia before landing the head coaching job at Kennesaw State.

At KSU, his first team went 1-28, but the nucleus of that group stuck together and grew. In his fourth season the Owls finished 26-9, won the A-Sun regular-season championship and conference tournament to earn the school’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament, where they nearly knocked off No. 3 seed Xavier.

The success thrust him into the national spotlight, and he was lured away by South Florida. In his lone season there, the Bulls went 25-8, the best record in school history, and won the then-American Athletic Conference regular-season championship. He died just a week before the start of his second season.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim was shaken by the loss. He and his brother had a great relationship. They spoke almost every day, even if it was just for a few seconds to check in with each other.

“We were really close,” Shareef Abdur-Rahim said. “You know, brother, friend, supporter — all of that. I think he grew up in my shadow, but he was always a big supporter, and I tried to do the same. It was an honor and a privilege to see him grow and blossom and have his own place.”

Two months ago, Shareef Abdur-Rahim discovered a missed call on his phone that he had somehow overlooked. It was a message from Amir.

“If he called you and you weren’t able to get back to him or you were busy, he’d leave you a message like, ‘Hey, this is me. Don’t call me back.’ At some point he had called me and maybe it was just a busy day, and I hadn’t been able to get back to him, but that was his message. It just made me smile.”

Amir Abdur-Rahim made a lot of people smile. It gave him pleasure to help others, including Pettway, who followed him as the head coach at Kennesaw State.