Kennesaw State fell to the Xavier Musketeers in brutal fashion on Friday. The 14th-seeded Owls were near minutes away from pulling off a stunning NCAA Tournament upset. However, it just wasn’t to be. The Musketeers raced by the Owls and celebrated a big win thanks to an absolutely insane block by Jack Nunge.
After the game, Kennesaw State coach Amir Abdur-Rahim went viral after a surprising reaction to the brutal loss.
Abdur-Rahim took the high road and offered some much-needed perspective following the difficult defeat.
Kennesaw State coach Amir Abdur-Rahim cries "tears of joy" as the Owls' season comes to an end after a first-round loss to Xavier. Grab a tissue. Why March Madness is so special. 🥹 pic.twitter.com/LQMYMYztEi
— Kyle Boone (@kyletheboone) March 17, 2023
A reporter asked the coach if this NCAA Tournament performance signaled something bigger in the future.
Abdur-Rahim complimented the reporter on a great question. “With all due respect, the beginning was four years ago. We’re here today man, because… Woo … … The beginning was four years ago.”
Abdur-Rahim fought through what the coach called “tears of joy” as he tried to navigate through the press conference.
“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 everyday 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 video of the press conference, provided by Kyle Boone on Twitter, went viral with over 2.4k likes.
It sounds like Kennesaw State is here to stay.
