Five days after the tragic passing of head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, South Florida AD Michael Kelly held a press conference Tuesday to announce that Ben Fletcher would serve as the Bulls’ interim head coach for the 2024-25 season. Fletcher arrived in Tampa last year after working under Abdur-Rahim for four seasons at Kennesaw State. He was elevated to associate head coach this past summer.
Fletcher is originally from Selma, Alabama and played at Troy, where we was a senior leader on the 2002-03 Trojans’ squad that went to the NCAA Tournament for the first-time in the school’s D-I history. He then spent the next 16 years working at his alma mater, 14 as a full-time assistant coach, where he played a role in getting the program back to March Madness in 2017.
The Bulls have an exhibition game tomorrow, 10/30, against D-II Edward Waters (FL), with Kelly noting that the decision to play that game was made after he was able to speak with USF’s players and staff. The team’s first official game is in Jacksonville on MON 11/4, with the Bulls taking on the #21 Florida Gators.
credit to South Florida Athletics for the image
