No. 14 seed Kennesaw State fell to No. 3 seed Xavier on Friday 72–67 in the first round of the men’s NCAA tournament, putting up a great fight and nearly pulling an upset bid of the Musketeers.
Despite the result, Owls coach Amir Abdur-Rahim couldn’t have been prouder of his team’s effort when he spoke to the media after the game. In fact, he was so proud of his team that he was moved to tears.
“The beginning was four years ago and um…” Abdur-Rahim paused as he teared up. “These are tears of joy man. Because we made a commitment to this university. We made a commitment to these guys sitting next to me man that we were going to show up every day for and when you get to a place like this… Again these are tears of joy, because it takes a special group of people to commit to something and stay to see that vision through. So, the beginning was four years ago, but you better believe this is our standard. This is our expectation.”
The Owls made the NCAA tournament after capturing the Atlantic Sun title with a 67–66 victory over Liberty on March 6. The conference title and berth into the Big Dance completed a remarkable turnaround under Abdur-Rahim, who went just 1–28 in his first season as the team’s coach in 2019.
While Kennesaw State couldn’t quite pull off the upset, it’s clear that the Owls are here to stay as a formidable mid-major moving forward under Abdur-Rahim’s leadership.
