3/7/2023

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KENNESAW, Ga. – More national recognition keeps rolling in for Kennesaw State men’s basketball. Fourth-year head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim was named as finalist for both the Jim Phelan and the Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Awards. This marks three national coaching awards Abdur-Rahim is now a finalist for, after being named to the finalist list for the Ben Jobe Award Monday, presented to the top Division I minority coach.

Abdur-Rahim was named the ASUN Coach of the Year, the first-ever at KSU to receive the honor, after taking an Owl team picked eighth in the preseason coach’s poll to the top of the league with a 15-3 record in the ASUN, and the No. 1 seed in ASUN Tournament. The Owls then capped off a thrilling tourney 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.

The Owls completely shattered almost every season win and achievement mark in the Division I era (since 2005-06), as KSU currently stands with a 26-8 overall record. That is 12 over the previous school record for wins in a season and marks the team’s first-ever winning season. KSU’s 15 league wins were five more than the previous record of 10-10, while the Owls are tied for fourth in the nation with 10 road wins (10-6), four more than the 2016-17 team’s road mark of 6-13.

The Jim Phelan award is annually given to the nation’s top Division I coach, named after the legendary Jim Phelan, who won 830 games in his time at Mt. Saint Mary’s. The Hugh 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 in the nation. Both awards will be announced this month in March in Houston, site of the Men’s Final Four.

COURTESY KENNESAW STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS