Amir Abdur-Rahim will always hold a special place in Kennesaw State's basketball history.
Not only was he the first coach to lead the Owls to the NCAA Tournament, Abdur-Rahim set an example by the way he lived his life and coached his players.
So when Kennesaw State reached the tournament for the first time since his death in 2024, there was little doubt the inspiration for the run.
“I’m just standing on the shoulders of that giant,” Kennesaw State coach
Antoine Pettway said after the Owls beat Louisiana Tech 71-60 in the Conference USA championship game.
No. 14 seed Kennesaw State opens play against No. 3 Gonzaga on Thursday in Portland, Oregon, part of a West Region filled with firsts:
Texas will play its first NCAA Tournament game under coach Sean Miller. Same for North Carolina State under Will Wade.
Queens is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in just four years as a Division I program. High Point is in the bracket for the second straight season, but first under Flynn Clayman after Alan Huss left for Creighton.
Villanova, one of the most consistent programs the past 20 years, also has notched a first.
The Wildcats won two national championships under Jay Wright and went to the Final Four in his final season but lost momentum under Kyle Neptune, costing the former assistant his job in 2025.
In stepped Kevin Willard. The former assistant to Rick Pitino made a name for himself by taking Seton Hall to the NCAA Tournament five times and led Maryland to March Madness twice in three seasons — the last to the Sweet 16.
Willard quickly revived a winning culture at Villanova, leading the program to 24 wins and its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2022. The No. 8 seed Wildcats face No. 9 seed Utah State on Friday in San Diego.
“I know how important it is to this program and this university,” Willard said. "We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to build this roster in a way that we can get back to this point.”
Miller had early success at Arizona before a recruiting scandal took its toll and he was fired in 2021. He returned to the place of his first coaching success, Xavier, and led the Musketeers to the NCAA Tournament twice in three seasons before landing in Austin.
Texas took some lumps in Miller's first season, thanks in part to one of the nation's toughest schedules, but the Longhorns did just enough to earn a First Four game against NC State on Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio.
“I think we’re in a good place,” Miller said. “I think that everybody truly understands, regardless of what happens in Dayton, this is a brand new season, a new beginning.”
Wade is hoping for the same thing with his Wolfpack.
Like Miller, Wade was fired in the wake of a federal investigation into improper recruiting practices. He left LSU and made an immediate imprint on McNeese State, leading the Cowboys to consecutive NCAA tournaments.
Wade's first season at N.C. State had some good moments — notably a win over North Carolina last month — but the Wolfpack (20-13) had some tense moments on Selection Sunday after losing five of their final six games.
“I’m shocked by going to Dayton, but I mean, look, we did it to ourselves,” Wade said. “I told our guys there’s no victims in the room.”
Abdur-Rahim's death at 43 from an undisclosed illness sent shockwaves across college basketball, particularly at Kennesaw State and South Florida, where he coached in 2023-24. Pettway did his best to keep Abdur-Rahim's memory alive while trying to get the Owls back to where the former coach left them.
Kennesaw State improved its win total in each of Pettway's three seasons as coach, culminating with 21 this season. The Owls lost leading scorer Simeon Cottle midseason due to a federal probe into gambling and finished sixth in the Conference USA regular-season standings, but rolled through the conference tournament, capped by the emotional win over Louisiana Tech.
"It was adversity for sure this season," Pettway said. “When we went through that, we had two options: we could splinter or we could come together. We got together as a team and decided we were going to dig in even more.”
The result was a run that would have made their former coach proud.
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AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
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AP March Madness: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
