By: Mark Wasik
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KENNESAW, Ga. – The honors keep rolling in for Kennesaw State for its historic season, as head coach
Amir Abdur-Rahim has been named the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) District 3 Coach of the Year while
Chris Youngblood and
Terrell Burden were named to the first and second teams, the national organization announced on Tuesday. This marks the first time in program history the Owls have received district accolades of any kind.
Abdur-Rahim, the ASUN Coach of the Year, guided an Owl team picked eighth in the preseason ASUN coach's poll to a sweep of the conference regular season and tournament championships. That earned KSU its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament, setting a new record as the fastest team to ever reach the tournament after a one-win season, taking just three seasons. The Owls currently hold a 26-8 record after never having a winning season in the program's Division I era.
Youngblood, a junior guard from Tuscaloosa, Ala., is one of the most explosive scorers in the ASUN. He reached double-figures in 27 games this season and in all 18 ASUN conference games. He currently ranks 13th in the league in scoring at 14.7 ppg and posted six 20+ point performances including four in ASUN games. Youngblood turned in one of the best games of his career when he scored 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting in KSU's home win over Liberty on Feb. 16, while he also came up with a huge steal and dunk in the final minute to help the Owls rally past Stetson 82-81 in overtime for a big road victory Jan. 19. In the ASUN championship game, he finished with 16 points in the victory over Liberty and was named to the ASUN All-Tournament team.
Burden, a guard from Smyrna, Ga., was the heart and soul of this year's KSU team and led numerous second-half comebacks with a resume of game-winning shots. In back-to-back games in which KSU trailed by double-digits in the second half, Burden scored 16 of his eventual 19 points in the second half. That included five straight points in the final two minutes that gave KSU the lead for good in the home win over Liberty. In the Owls' 2-0 road trip to Florida, he scored back-to-back winning points, first with the winning basket with under 10 seconds left, and then followed with a block on Stetson's last shot in the overtime victory. He followed that two days later with the winning free throws to break a tie game with 30 seconds left in a 65-63 win at FGCU. He capped that off with the biggest shot in school history, sinking a free throw with 0.7 seconds left to break a tie and give Kennesaw State the 67-66 win over Liberty in the ASUN title game on the way to earning Tournament MVP honors. Burden is currently averaging 4.168 apg, while his 142 assists for the season are the fourth-highest in school history. He also ranks 16th in the ASUN in scoring average 13.5, and second in steals with 1.68 per game, and his 57 steals for the season are just three away from tying the school record.
The 14
th-seeded Owls will open play in the NCAA Tournament on Friday with a first-round contest against third-seed Xavier at 12:40 p.m., from Greensboro, N.C. at the Greensboro Coliseum in a game televised live on truTV.
2022-23 NABC District 3 Honors
Coach of the Year: Amir Abdur-Rahim, Kennesaw State
District 3
First Team
Devontae Blanton, Eastern Kentucky
Kenny Dye, Queens
Darius McGhee, Liberty
Drew Pember, UNC Asheville
Chris Youngblood, Kennesaw State
Second Team
Terrell Burden, Kennesaw State
Tajion Jones, UNC Asheville
Jacob Ognacevic, Lipscomb
Kyle Rode, Liberty
DaQuan Smith, Radford
