Mark Pope releases heartfelt message on death of Amir Abdur-Rahim

On Thursday, USF head men’s basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim died. In the wake of the somber news, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope posted a heartfelt message about Abdur-Rahim.

“I’m saddened to hear of the passing of Amir Abdur-Rahim,” Pope wrote on X. “He was a championship-winning coach who was an exceptional leader of young men. More importantly, he was also a father, husband, brother and son. This is a devastating loss. I will be praying for the Abdur-Rahim family and the USF community.”

Abdur-Rahim “was undergoing a medical procedure at a Tampa-area hospital when he passed away due to complications that arose during the procedure,” according to a release from the school.

Abdur-Rahim, who played collegiately, was the younger brother of Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who went on to NBA stardom after playing in college. They had another brother, Muhammad Abdur-Rahim, who also played in college. 

Abdur-Rahim, who is survived by his wife and three children, among siblings and other family, was considered a rising star in coaching.

Abdur-Rahim took over as the head coach at USF before the 2023-24 season and went 25-8 in his first campaign. They won a regular-season AAC title but failed to make the NCAA Tournament.

Prior to his stint at USF, he had engineered a miraculous turnaround for the Kennesaw State program he led. After going 1-28 in his first season, Abdur-Rahim piloted the Owls to a 5-19 mark and then a 13-18 campaign.

His crowning achievement came a year later, a 26-9 season in 2022-23 that saw Kennesaw State win it’s conference and play in the NCAA Tournament. This spring, Abdur-Rahim was linked to even higher-profile head coaching jobs but stayed at USF.

CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander assessed the latest coaching moves across the country during a segment in March.

“Louisville? Not getting Dusty May. It’s search has kind of been recalibrated a bit here,” Norlander said. “Shaheen Holloway of Seton Hall has been involved, Amir Abdur-Rahim from South Florida has been involved”

Norlander added another job could have an eye on Abdur-Rahim too in Vanderbilt. After apparently losing out on an option like Utah State’s Danny Sprinkle after his reported hire at Washington, Abdur-Rahim could’ve become a target for the Commodores to follow in after Jerry Stackhouse.

Prior to Kennesaw State, Abdur-Rahim was an assistant at Texas A&M (2014-18) and Georgia (2018-19).

He played his college basketball at Garden City CC from 2000-01 before a transfer to Southeastern Louisiana from 2001-04. He began his coaching career in 2006 with Murray State as an assistant and eventually landed at the College of Charleston in 2012.

Following his stint there, he ended up at Texas A&M, Georgia and eventually Kennesaw State. South Florida is slated to begin the 2024-25 campaign on Nov. 4 against in-state rival Florida.

On3’s Andrew Graham also contributed to this story.