Florida International at Georgia
WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum
WHEN: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
TV/RADIO: SEC Network+ (Jeff Dantzler and Mark Slonaker); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle and Adam Gillespie).
With seven spots to fill on his roster due to post-season transfers, one of Tom Crean’s toughest jobs was finding players he thought were the right ones in a relatively short amount of time.
In the case of Virginia transfer Jabri Abdur-Rahim, there was already considerable familiarity.
If the name Abdur-Rahim sounds familiar, it should. His dad Sahreef is a former NBA All-Star who played with four teams, including the Atlanta Hawks, and is currently president of the NBA G League.
However, it’s his uncle Amir where the connection with Georgia lies. Currently the head basketball coach at Kennesaw State, Amir Abdur-Rahim was an assistant on Crean’s first staff with the Bulldogs.
Couple that with the fact Crean recruited the young Abdur-Rahim out of high school in New Jersey—when it came to choosing the Bulldogs, he already had a good idea of what to expect.
"Through (Amir Abdur-Rahim), I became pretty familiar with the program and then with Coach Crean recruiting me. Just from paying attention when I was in high school all the way up to my year at Virginia,” Jabri Abdur-Rahim said. “That's somebody who I trust, so if he felt good enough to come work for him and said all the good things about him, it was an easy decision for me."
The 2019 Gatorade Player of the Year in New Jersey, Abdur-Rahim matriculated to Virginia after being ranked as the nation’s No. 45 overall prospect according to Rivals.com.
During his stint with the Cavaliers, Abdur-Rahim played sparingly, but helped UVA capture the ACC regular season title and another berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Crean said he’s been pleased with the way Abdur-Rahim and the rest of the newcomers worked out for the Bulldogs, who open the regular season Tuesday night against Florida International (7 p.m., SEC Network+).
“I’m extremely proud of the way these guys have come into Georgia,” Crean said. “They've come in excited to be at Georgia, and they've come in really working hard for Georgia.”
Abdur-Rahim said when he put his name in the transfer portal, he hoped Crean would be the first to give him a call.
“When I entered the transfer portal, that's who I wanted to be recruited by. And throughout the process of me being in the transfer portal, he was just the most authentic and the most consistent, and had a clear vision of what this team was going to look like and the kind of impact that I was going to have. I felt like that was pretty representative of what I wanted to do,” Abdur-Rahim said. “For me, it was just the overall relationship with Tom Crean, and I have a lot of family in Atlanta. So, just being close to them was a big deal. I'm glad I made this decision."
The Bulldogs are counting on Abdur-Rahim playing a key role, despite the fact everyone is still in the process of learning each other’s weaknesses and strengths.
With 10 new players, as you might expect, on-court chemistry remains an area that will need some work before SEC play gets underway.
Abdur-Rahim admits that’s been part of the early challenge.
"When I first got here, I thought it was going to be a little challenging, but getting to know everybody, our staff, everybody made it like a family atmosphere from the beginning. So, this is the closest I've ever gotten with a group of people in such a short amount of time. I think we are all really good friends off the court, and I know that's only going to help us on the court down the line,” Abdur-Rahim said. “The basketball part is going to come with time. I think we've done a really good job. Coach Crean does a good job of preaching togetherness and being one team, one unit. I think with his guidance and how much we get along with each other, that's only going to help us. It's actually been a really smooth process, just from my perspective."
