By: Mark Wasik
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KENNESAW, Ga. – Amir Abdur-Rahim has been named the 2022-23 Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year for leading Kennesaw State to its first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament appearance, CollegeInsider.com announced on Thursday. The award honors the legacy of the only coach in NCAA history to be the winningest coach at three different schools (Jacksonville, Florida State, Georgia), and is given to the top Division I mid-major coach in the nation.
Under Abdur-Rahim, who stepped down on Wednesday to accept the head position at South Florida, the Owls became one of the top stories in college basketball this season. Picked eighth in the preseason ASUN coach's poll, KSU completed a sweep of the conference regular season and tournament championships, thanks largely to the first two Top-50 wins in school history, a pair of home victories over Liberty. That earned the Owls their 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. The Owls currently stand 123 in the KenPom rankings and 115 in the NCAA NET, marking the first time the school has finished in the top 220 in either ranking.
