Kennesaw State beat Liberty 67 to
66 in a nail biter to the very end
to capture the Asian Championship
title and punch their ticket to
the NCAA tournament for the very
first time in school history.
Joining me now we have the head
coach of the Owls, Amir Abdur Rahim,
and coach is so good to see you look
at what is around your neck right now.
You got the net,
you're going dancing.
What does this
moment mean for your program?
It means it's time for our program,
but it it's even a bigger
moment for our university.
We've been able to build something
here over the over the last four years
that will attract a lot more students,
a lot more attention to a campus
and A and a community that deserves
to have a a light shined on them.
You know when you took over KSU in 2019,
you finished one in 28 that
year and your 4th season,
you're Asian champions.
You're going dancing for the
first time in school history.
What exactly is the secret
behind this turn around?
You know our our core values
in our program make up
the acronym of Truth, Trust, Responsibility,
Unity, toughness and humility.
And we talk to our kids all the time
about running, to people who will
tell you the truth even though you
don't want to hear that all the time.
You know we have 16 guys in our locker
room that run to the truth every day.
And then on top of that,
our mantra and our program make up
the acronym of Bone B1, no ego.
So when you have guys that want to be
told the truth and that of innocence
gotten over themselves and they put.
The team, the program before themselves,
special things can happen like this.
It was certainly special
to watch that unfold.
I know you were nervous until the very end,
but you got Terrell burden
drawing the late foul,
going to the line to ultimately send
you guys to the NCAA tournament.
But what is going through your head when
all that unfolded in the final seconds
of this game?
Trust my players at the end of the day.
And that's what I've done.
You know, I'd never wanna over coach,
you know, just, I got three kids.
I never wanna, you know, over parent,
you know, I want to give them
what they need to be successful,
but then they have to go through
and kind of on their own.
And Terrell is a guy who's been
with me since my first year.
And so I wasn't going to put that
ball in anybody else's hand but him
because I trust him to do exactly
what he's been trained to do.
And he did a great job.
When he got to the line,
I wasn't nervous at all.
I wanted him to trust his training,
trust his his work he's put in and.
Any and he did that.
It certainly paid off for you both. Now
you know teams that make it to March,
they have a chance. How can your team
be dangerous in the NCAA tournament?
Well, I think when you look at our balance,
it's not just one guy on our team
that you that you can key in on.
Chris Youngblood has been the model
of consistency for us all year.
But you look behind him and
Terrell burdens had big games,
Demon Robinson had had has had big games,
Brandon Stroud has had big games
and I could go on and on and on.
So I think our balance, our experience,
but more importantly than anything,
our connection is what's going to
carry us through and give us an
opportunity to win a game or two,
an NCAA tournament,
you know, next weekend selection.
One day I heard you on the court
afterwards say you guys would be
celebrating for the next week,
but what does this next
week look like for you guys?
Well, we're gonna give our
kids a chance to rest.
We've been playing two games
in three days for the past,
I think two months.
So we're gonna give him a couple
of days off to rest their bodies,
get their get their bodies back feeling good,
get their minds focused,
get them locked back into the classroom.
And then we'll start towards the
middle slash end of the week.
We'll start back with some light
shootings and conditioning,
and then we'll start preparing
for whoever we're going to play.
Because whoever we'll play,
they'll be one of the best 68
teams in the country and we'll
have to bring our best.
But again, look, when you make it to March.
You have a chance and and one of
the things that I heard too is
that you had a really special
pregame message for your players.
Take me through those moments
and how they responded
in this game.
No, it was awesome.
I said to him before the game,
I put the number of 999,999 and
I just collectively,
that's how many times everybody in our
program has been doubted or written off.
And I told them, you know somebody
out there is writing this off today.
Nobody thinks we can come out
here and do this on our homecourt.
Well, let's prove them wrong
for the one millionth time.
And when when the game got tough,
when things got,
when the score got close.
We've done what we always what we've done
all year and that's respond and and.
It's what they know.
I I say it all the time and and I
say this humbly where where it's hard,
where it's uncomfortable.
We're right at home with that
because of the adversity that we've
grown through and the character
that we've shown through prosperity
coach. One of the things that
impresses me the most is you've been
on different Staffs around this state.
Georgia Tech, Georgia.
Now you're the head coach at KSU,
taking them to the NCAA tournament
for the first time in school history.
Why is it extra special
that it's done at KSU?
You know, I say this and and I don't
say this to because both of those
institutions are great along with the
rest of the institutions in our state.
I think the state of Georgia hands down,
pound for pound, no matter
what you're trying to get into,
whether it's universities, business,
whatever it may be, we have a lot to offer.
But to be able to do it at a place like
Kennesaw State that, you know, our,
our athletic department is about 15
or 16 years old, we're fairly young.
So there are a lot of parallels between
not only our athletic department,
our university.
For myself.
And and we all took a chance on each
other and that's what makes it special.
You take a guy like Terrell Burton who had no
scholarship offers coming out of high school.
We took a chance on him,
he took a chance on us,
and we all get to share in
this special moment together.
So that's what makes it special
is that the people here,
they want to be here at KSU.
They know how special of a place KSU is.
And now the whole country gets
to find out how special of
a place Kennesaw State is.
And that environment has just
been so crazy over the last.
Couple of weeks and another record
for KSU in terms of attendance
in this one against liberty.
Alright, my last question for you,
I wanna address what's around your neck.
You got kids cutting down the net tonight.
What is going through your head when you
watch your kids cut down a net at the
end of the game?
God is good and.
I just love them for the
sacrifices that they've made.
You know, to be a collegiate
athlete is not a a easy deal.
These guys sacrificed their summers,
they sacrificed their springs,
their Thanksgiving breaks,
their Christmas breaks to to get
to this point and for them to be
rewarded for their hard work,
for their sacrifice.
It just means the world to me
to be able to be the guy that
be a part of a small part of
helping them realize that dream.
I can't wait for them to experience the
NCAA tournament and what comes with it.
The motorcades on the way to practice,
the press conferences in
the in the locker rooms.
But then that game day where you're the
first one or two teams to be playing
and now you know you might be playing.
We're going to be playing a bigger
university and as those people fill in,
right the underdog.
Becomes the favorite if
you if that game is close,
because now you got another
fan base cheering for you.
So I'm just excited that they get to
experience all of those things in one.
It's one of my favorite events
I've ever covered in my career.
Where's that neck going?
You gotta place for it in your office.
I do. It's gonna go around that
championship trophy we just won the night.
So I'm gonna put it there.
But I'm gonna actually walk it up to
president swag when I get a chance.
She's been here for 19 years.
She served in every role
possible that you could serve.
And now she's leading our, our,
our university as the President.
This is more for her and the
faculty and staff that have been
here throughout those years.
This is for guys like like coach Tony Engle,
who helped establish the Kennesaw
State basketball program.
We have a banner sitting
up there right now in 2004,
that was a national championship.
The division Two that gave us the
vision that it can be done here.
So it's for all those for President Schwag,
coach Tony Engle,
his family,
the former players of all the
alumni is for them.
Coach, you have built something
incredibly special with the
Owls and I wish you the best
of luck as we get dancing here
in the next couple of weeks.
Appreciate your time.
Thank you so much.