MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Former South Florida basketball coach Amir Abdulrahim’s initials are on the headset worn by USF football coach Alex Goresh on the sidelines. And the words of Abdul Rahim he said in 2023 quickly became a certain belief for the Bulls as well.
“This isn’t my brother, Ol South Florida.”
Abdur-Rahim, who died last year at the age of 43 during medical procedures, was the only one at USF after his first victory in the 2023-24 season, and gave the words that led the Bulls to a 25-win campaign.
They went viral. They still resonate.
Golesh, who became close friends with Abdur-Rahim, said they were in the locker room after USF opened this season, beating the then Boise state. He said they in an on-field interview last week after USF defeated then-Florida. He cried again after the match from Assistant Coach DiMarkus Van Dyk in the joyous locker room. And the 18th-ranked bull wants nothing more than to say them after the game again on Saturday when they visited No. 5 Miami.
“More than anything, I think we’re so grateful and truly grateful,” said Shareef Abdur-Rahim, a former NBA player who is G-League president and brother of the late USF coach. “And it’s really cool that he’s been influenced by that kind of influence and keeps remembering.”
Ah, they haven’t forgotten his brother at USF anytime soon.
On the walls of the soccer facility are some large photos of Amir Abdul Rahim talking to the soccer team last year. It was an hour-long session, recalls Golesh. The USF content team discussed allowing the meeting to post several video clips, as schools often do that now. Abdur-Rahim quickly shot down those plans.
“He said, ‘No content. This is me and my peers,'” Goresh said. “And it was like the most realistic time you’ve ever seen in your life. It was really, really cool.”
This is just an example of how Abdur-Rahim continues to resonate within the USF athletic community. The Bulls perform their annual spring shows and pay tribute to the best in school throughout the academic year. Abdur-Rahim and his staff won the Coach of the Year Award in 2024. He accepted the trophy and soon surrendered to USF women’s golf coach Erika Brennan.
“He said, ‘No, they actually had a better year. We got more infamous, but they had a better year than us,” Shareef Abdur-Rahim said.
Fast forward to one year ago. USF women’s basketball coach Jose Fernandez won the award last spring. Noting that Amir Abdul Rahim did last year, he decided to hand it over to the USF volleyball coaching staff.
There are other examples too. At USF’s basketball arena, students are currently viewing from the Students section of Amir Abdulrahim. The American Athletic Conference established the Amir Abdul Rahim Sportsmanship Award in his honor. His two former schools – USF and Kennesaw County, will be held this November at Love Wins Classic, the start of the inter-program home and home series.
Golesh had no intention of saying those words after his first week of victory. It just happened a bit.
“I got this feeling when he walked down the hallway, walked our bystanders and smiled and said, ‘I told y’all, this isn’t Florida like my brother’s.” “It kind of came to me. I don’t even know why. And I’m not overly calculated by what I say. I’m holding back my emotions. But in that moment after the game, I was emotional for some reason.
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