Abdur-Rahim leads new-look Bulls into season
TAMPA, Fla. - Amir Abdur-Rahim is used to being uncomfortable and that is just fine with him.
"You hear it a lot. Uncomfortable is where growth is," he said.
Entering his first season at the helm of the USF men's basketball team, the last few months have been anything but comfortable for the Bulls' new head coach.
"We can plan, but God is the best of planners," Abdur-Rahim said.
After building a Kennesaw State team that won just a single game his first season there, to an NCAA Tournament team in his fourth, Abdur-Rahim was already used to the growing pains of college basketball when he took the job in Tampa.
"Ultimately, it shaped me as a coach, as a man, as a leader, and it helped me become better," he said.
While Abdur-Rahim is just fine with being uncomfortable, his Bulls roster also has a level of unfamiliarity to it with 12 of the 15 players on the bench wearing the green and gold for the first time this season.
"Our first team meeting we started with standing up, introduce yourself, where are you from and what's your major," Abdur-Rahim recalls.
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The Bulls are just one of seven teams in the nation that welcomed 12 or more new players this season.
"It was about building a team, building camaraderie and a connection that we need in order to be the team we want to be this year," Abdur-Rahim said.
What started as a mission to build chemistry, is now a mission to build a brand for Abdur-Rahim.
"We're Tampa Bay's home for hoops. We don't have a pro team here. We are the pro team, and we want to give them a team that reflects their hard work and their identity," said Abdur-Rahim.
That brand, meanwhile, is already 1-0 on the season after a 96-52 win over South Carolina State in the Bulls' season opener.
On Wednesday, Abdur-Rahim and the Bulls will look to start the season with back-to-back wins when Central Michigan comes to town.