MIAMI GARDENS — The initials of former South Florida basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim are on the headset that USF football coach Alex Golesh wears on the sideline. And Abdur-Rahim’s words that he said in 2023 have quickly become the credo of sorts for the Bulls as well.

“This ain’t the same ol’ South Florida, my brother.”

Abdur-Rahim, who died at 43 last year during a medical procedure, said those words after the first win of the 2023-24 season, his only one at USF and one where he led the Bulls to a 25-win campaign.

They went viral. They’re still resonating.

Golesh — who became close friends with Abdur-Rahim — said them inside the locker room after USF opened this season by beating then-ranked Boise State. He said them in an on-field interview after USF beat then-ranked Florida last

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