Five great minutes with the Kennesaw State coach as he’s preparing his team for the NCAA Tournament.
Click below to listen:
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Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim has been nominated for awards named after longtime college coaches Jim Phelan and Hugh Durham.
The Phelan Award is annually given to the nation’s top Division I coach, named after the man who won 830 games over a 49-year career at Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland.
The Durham Award honors the legacy of the only coach in NCAA history to be the winningest coach at three different schools (Jacksonville, Florida State, Georgia). The honor is given to the top Division I mid-major coach.
Abdur-Rahim was also named a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award, presented to the top Division I minority coach.
All three awards will be announced later this month during the Final Four.
He was named the ASUN Coach of the Year after leading Owls to a 15-3 conference record and the No. 1 seed in ASUN tournament. The Owls then capped off their championship run with a 67-66 victory over preseason favorite Liberty in Sunday’s ASUN title game, giving the Owls an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Kennesaw State shattered almost every season win and achievement mark in its Division I era (since 2005-06), with the Owls now 26-8 overall. That is 12 over the previous record for wins in a season and the team’s first winning season at the Division I level.
