TAMPA — "I asked USF athletic director Michael Kelly 'Are you afraid of heights?' Because you’re going to have to get up on that ladder one day and cut down those nets. Go Bulls."
That was how former USF men's head basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim ended his introductory press conference on March 30, 2023. He also went viral when he said "This ain’t the same ol’ South Florida, my brother,” in a video from practice that was posted on the Bulls' social media accounts.
He made good on his statements and then some.
Abdur-Rahim led USF to a school-record 25 wins, their first-ever AP top-25 ranking, and their first-ever regular season AAC championship. This offseason, the entire lower bowl of the Yuengling Center sold out of lower-level and premium seats for the upcoming campaign.
Thursday, the entire Bulls community was rocked when news broke that Abdur-Rahim, 43, died from complications during a medical procedure at a Tampa-area hospital.
The reach of the man everyone called "Coach Amir" went far beyond basketball.
"He impacted my life since the day he got here. Not just on the court. Off the court, too," former USF guard Selton Miguel said after the Bulls Senior Night win on March 5. "He helped me a lot off the court. Just being my mentor, not just a coach."
The was perhaps no bigger "Coach Amir" moment than the surprise he pulled off at the athletic department award ceremony. Abdur-Rahim and his assistants were awarded "Coaching Staff of the Year." He immediately gave the award to then-USF women's golf head coach Erika Brennan. He added, "To know her is a joy. To be her friend is a gift."
"It’s a moment I’ll never forget," Brennan, now the head coach at the University of Georgia, said via video chat. "It just speaks so much to his heart and who he was. He was never a man that had to get the credit. He always wanted everybody around him to feel that light, and I think it’s one of his best qualities."
Brennan said there's no end to Coach Amir's impact on everyone he met.
"He just was a guy that cared- more than so many. His transformational leadership will be felt by thousands and thousands. But who he was in the quiet moments was just as special."
Brennan smiled when she said Abdur-Rahim never missed a chance to coach—on and off the court. She quickly added that she'll always remember his message and how he said it.
"We all have these 'Amir-isms' where you can hear his voice and you can hear the cadence and exactly how he would say it," Brennan recalled with a smile. "I feel like he be like 'E. But it’s okay, E. We got work to do, E.' He just was that kinda guy."
Abdur-Rahim is survived by his wife, Arianne, and three children.
USF is expected to have media availability in the coming days. The Bulls are scheduled to tip off the exhibition season on October 30, when they host Edward Waters at the Yuengling Center. USF is scheduled to start the regular season November 4, when they take on number 21 Florida in Jacksonville.
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