University of South Florida Head Men’s Basketball Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim has announced the addition of William Small as an assistant coach on his first USF staff.
Small follows Abdur-Rahim from Kennesaw State where he spent two seasons on the Owls’ staff (2021-23) and helped lead the program to 26 wins and its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022-23.
“I am ecstatic to add Coach Small, his wife Paula, and daughter Chiya to our USF Basketball family,” said Abdur-Rahim. “Coach Small is someone who over the last 20 years has impacted my life in a major way. When he recruited me out of Garden City Community College, he was always someone who told me the truth and pushed me to be a better version of myself. Coach Small has worked with, recruited and developed student-athletes at every level of college basketball. He has coached NBA players such as Courtney Lee, Isaiah Canaan, Cameron Payne, Monte Morris, Georges Niang, Talon Horton-Tucker and Tyrese Haliburton.
“Coach Small is a blue-collar, roll your sleeves up type of a man. The immediate impact he had on our program at Kennesaw State was incredible and right on time. I know he will do the same here at South Florida.”
Small brings more than 25 years of college coaching experience to USF and has coached eight NBA Draft picks from a career that has spanned stops at Iowa State, Murray State, UTEP, Southeastern Louisiana, Georgia State, Tulane, Troy, UT-Martin, Alabama-Huntsville, and Cowley Community College since starting in 1995.
At Kennesaw State (2021-23), Small helped lead one of the nation’s most stunning turnarounds as the Owls posted a school-record 26-9 mark, ASUN Conference regular season and tournament titles and the program’s first-ever Division I NCAA Tournament berth in 2022-23. It marked KSU’s first winning record as an NCAA Division I program and first ASUN conference titles. The Owls were picked to finish eighth in the ASUN but posted a 15-3 conference record. KSU’s 15 league wins were five more than the program’s previous record of 10, while the Owls tied for fourth in the nation with 10 road wins (10-6), four more than the 2016-17 team’s program-record road mark of 6-13.
The Owls went on to post three wins in the conference tournament, downing Liberty (67-66) in the final to earn the tournament title and automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Tournament, the program’s first-ever. KSU scored 75.0 points per game and shot 46.1 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from three to nearly double the program’s previous high wins mark in Division I. The 14th-seeded Owls took No. 3-seed Xavier to the limit in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, nearly pulling off the first-round upset in what was a one-point game in the final seconds before eventually falling 72-67.
Star guard Chris Youngblood was named a first-team All-Conference and All-District selection and became the first KSU player to be named Georgia Men’s Player of the Year by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Meanwhile, guard Terrell Burden earned second-team All-Conference and All-District honors, marking the first time in program history the Owls received district accolades of any kind. Further, Brandon Stroud was named the ASUN Defensive Player of the Year.
Prior to his stint at KSU, Small spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Iowa State (2015-21) where he helped lead the Cyclones to three NCAA tournament appearances, two Big 12 Tournament titles, 97 wins and a trio of upper-half finishes in the Big 12 Conference, including a second-place finish in 2016-17.
The Cyclones finished ninth nationally in adjusted offense in 2019, marking the third time in Small’s time at ISU in which the Cyclones ranked among the nation’s top-15 on the offensive end of the floor.
The 2019-20 team had a pair of players earn All-Big 12 honors including Bob Cousy Award finalist Tyrese Haliburton.
Iowa State went 23-12 in 2018-19, making the NCAA Tournament and winning the Big 12 Tournament. The Cyclones had four players recognized by the Big 12 Conference on its all-league teams, led by All-American and Julius Erving Award finalist Marial Shayok.
The 2016-17 Cyclone team finished No. 16 in the AP poll and ranked high on its offensive statistics, finishing No. 11 nationally in both adjusted offensive efficiency three-pointers made (344).
Prior to Iowa State, Small coached for four seasons at Murray State (2011-15) where he helped the Racers to a 104-29 record and three postseason berths.
Small and MSU made a splash in his first season as the Racers were ranked as high as No. 10, including spending 13 weeks in the polls. MSU finished 31-2, including a 23-0 start which made them the nation’s last undefeated team. The 31 wins were an Ohio Valley Conference record, and the Racers were the nation’s only team to go undefeated in road games (13-0).
Murray State won at least 20 games in each of his four seasons as an assistant coach, which included posting a 29-6 mark and berth in the NIT quarterfinals in 2014-15. The Racers finished the OVC portion of their schedule a perfect 16-0.
Small spent one season as an assistant coach at Western Kentucky (2004-05), when the Hilltoppers finished 22-9 and made the NIT.
Small played college basketball at Belhaven College in Jackson, Miss., where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business in 1993.
A native of Winona, Miss., he and his wife, Paula, have a daughter, Chiya.
