By: Mark Wasik
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KENNESAW, Ga. – The competition season might be over for Kennesaw State men's basketball, but the awards season keeps on going as KSU head coach
Amir Abdur-Rahim has been named the Whack Hyder Georgia Men's College Coach of the Year, while
Chris Youngblood is this year's Georgia Men's College Player of the Year, the Atlanta Tipoff Club Announced on Friday.
The Atlanta Tipoff Club, founded during the 1956-57 season, administers the Naismith Awards, the most prestigious national honors in both college and high school basketball. The organization also presents men's and women's college basketball defensive players of the year, as well as lifetime achievement awards to basketball officials and outstanding contributors to the game.
Abdur-Rahim, the ASUN Conference and NABC District 3 Coach of the Year, is the second-ever coach from KSU to be recognized with the award, after KSU Hall of Fame inductee Tony Ingle was the 2004 recipient after leading the Owls to the Division II national title. That was the last time the Owls played in the NCAA tournament at any level until putting together a storybook season under Abdur-Rahim this year. He 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 record as the fastest team to ever reach the tournament after a one-win season, taking just three seasons. The 14
th-seeded Owls took third-seeded Xavier to the limit, nearly pulling off the first round upset on March 17 in Greensboro in what was a one-point game in the final seconds before eventually falling 72-67. KSU finished the year with a school record of 26-9 for the first-winning season in school history.
Youngblood, a junior guard from Tuscaloosa, Ala., was one of the most explosive scorers in the ASUN. He reached double-figures in 28 games this season and in all 18 ASUN conference games. He ranked 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. Youngblood's 513 points for the season ranked as the seventh-most ever at KSU during the Division I era, while all-time he is 14
th in career scoring with 1,226 points. He is the first-ever player from KSU to earn honors from the Atlanta Tipoff club.
Atlanta Tipoff Club
2023 Georgia College Players and Coaches
Georgia Women's College Player of the Year
Terren Ward, Georgia Southern
Georgia Men's College Player of the Year
Chris Youngblood, Kennesaw State
Whack Hyder Georgia Women's College Coach of the Year
Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, Georgia
Whack Hyder Georgia Men's College Coach of the Year
Amir Abdur-Rahim, Kennesaw State
