Amir Abdur-Rahim Strengthens Atlanta Flavor In Athens
By W. M. Lawson
The University of Georgia Men’s Basketball program announced yesterday the hiring of Amir Abdur-Rahim as the final assistant in the inaugural Tom Crean staff. It has that Atlanta vibe.
The University of Georgia’s Men’s Basketball program has always been an enigma, of sorts. It has moments, or periods, where the team looks like a legitimate conference contender, and elicits thoughts of ascendancy. Then, there are moments, or periods, where The State school looks pedestrian on a basketball court in a state that produces Top 50 players, nationally, every year. The last few months have been no different. Tom Crean is now Head Coach. Weird. Yesterday, Amir Abdur-Rahim was announced as the final 3rd Assistant Coach. This enigmatic situation is about to get a strong dose of Atlanta.
The Tom Crean hire is still weird. Yes. I get that it makes sense “on paper”. This is not a situation where coaches in a good situation now are willing to take a chance. If UGA were to take a chance on a young, unproven Head Coach, and fail, it could undo all of what Mark Fox did accomplish. Which is foundational and significant. And if that were to happen, other folks in the Athletic Department would lose their jobs. So, Tom Crean it is. The guy that can win at a high level, at times, but not more often than not. He’s done it before, and wanted the job.
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But the fit seems strange. Dude has no background, or real success to speak of, in recruiting the Atlanta area, or the State of Georgia. Maybe, here or there. But, not consistently. And if there is one thing we do know about the enigmatic UGA Men’s Basketball job, it is that you can’t win in Athens, unless you can recruit Atlanta and the State of Georgia. At this point, the evidence supporting this statement is empirical.
My biggest question about Tom Crean is his ability to recruit our area. Especially, after the loss of Jonas Hayes to Xavier.
In steps Amir Abdur-Rahim, who was announced as the 3rd Asst. Coach on Crean’s staff. Formerly at Texas A&M, dude is from Atlanta and played at Wheeler High School. Local kid.
Now, this, in and of itself, would be promising, but wouldn’t move the needle dramatically. However, couple it with the already added Coach Chad Dollar, and the Atlanta Flavor in Athens is getting robust.
Dollar is an Atlanta Kid. His dad is an ATL High School Coach legend. Dollar has coached at Georgia Tech previously. He had pretty good success recruiting the area then.
Simply, the hiring of Chad Dollar, and now Amir Abdur-Rahim, allays some my biggest concerns about Tom Crean in Athens. It doesn’t obviate them, and that is because I’m still unconvinced Crean is really that good. But, it does help alleviate some of them. And that shouldn’t be discounted.
If Coaches Dollar and Abur-Rahim open a pipeline of talent from Atlanta to Athens, and can generate that same aura of “hometown kids play for hometown schools”, the way Kirby Smart and company have done on the football side, there is no reason to doubt that UGA’s Basketball program could take off.
There are still many questions surrounding this enigmatic Georgia Basketball program, and its new Head Coach, but there is one thing that is not in question: They hired two Atlanta boys.
That shows where emphasis will be. That means Crean, at least, gets that. That is a good thing. And as G.I. Joe taught us as kids: “Knowing is half the battle”.