Faith, Trust, Grit and Audacity Come Together to Earn USF an NCAA Bid

Birmingham, Ala. — The story of South Florida’s 2024-25 men’s basketball season begins in the one place powerhouse programs rarely look: the scrap heap. Back in October the Bulls were a collection of transfers, cast-offs and overlooked high-school recruits who had never been anyone’s idea of a postseason threat. Coming off a losing record and 13 straight seasons without an NCAA Tournament appearance, USF was picked to finish near the bottom of the American Athletic Conference.

On Sunday afternoon that same roster turned skepticism into celebration, toppling Wichita State 70-55 at the Legacy Arena to capture the AAC tournament title and the league’s automatic bid to March Madness.

“We just have 15 dudes that have all been underdogs,” power forward Izaiyah Nelson said in the post-game din. “They’ve all been looked over their entire careers. Being able to go to March Madness and play teams that all overlooked us? It’s a proving point. We’re going to show them why y’all should have recruited us.”

The Bulls’ path to the championship was as unconventional as their roster. During the regular season USF played at break-neck pace, launching threes in bulk and averaging 88.4 points per game—one of the ten highest marks in the country. In Birmingham, however, they flipped the script. A 64-58 semifinal win over Charlotte was followed by a vintage defensive clinic against Wichita State, which shot a season-low 55 points and 34 percent from the field.

“We just had a lot of empty possessions,” Shockers head coach Paul Mills said. “Their tenacity on the ball and their ball pressure was really, really good. That had a lot to do with South Florida.”

The transformation traces back to head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, who arrived in Tampa in 2023 preaching trust, unselfishness and love. In his first season he guided a program that had gone 43-133 in AAC play the previous decade to the conference’s regular-season crown. Although the Bulls missed the NCAA field a year ago, momentum was undeniable.

Tragedy struck last October when Abdur-Rahim died unexpectedly on the eve of the new season, leaving a grieving roster to forge ahead without the architect of their revival. The players responded by doubling down on the culture he installed, winning with the same faith, trust, grit and audacity that had become their mantra.

Now, for the first time since 2012, South Florida is headed to the NCAA Tournament, a band of misfits no more.