Drexel's Abif counts blessings in losing season

The season has consisted of one miserable loss after another, but somehow, the frustration of losing hasn't beaten down Drexel's Kazembe Abif.

Even in a 3-18 season, Abif, a 6-foot-7, 227-pound graduate student, has dwelled on the positive.

The biggest positive is that he has taken the court for each of the 21 games, with 20 of them in the starting lineup.

"I have done everything I could to make sure I would be healthy this year," said Abif, who is known as Kaz.

That is no small feat for someone who has had to deal with his share of physical adversity throughout his Drexel career.

It began in his freshman year of 2011-12 when after 20 games, Abif, who was a member of the rotation, suffered a season-ending illness. That forced him to miss the final six regular-season games and the postseason. Drexel advanced to the final of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament before losing to VCU and then won two NIT games while going 29-7.

In his sophomore year, Abif appeared in 27 games and averaged 4.4 points and 3.4 rebounds.

Then the injury bug hit again the next season. He missed five games early in the season with an illness and then was sidelined the final eight games with a broken left hand. He is lefthanded and said he caught his hand in somebody's jersey.

"It happened so quickly," he said. "If it happened to my right hand, I would have tried to play."

Yet the true frustration occurred last year when he missed the entire season with a torn knee ligament, suffered during offseason workouts.

"I jumped, came down and it was a noncontact injury," he said. "The knee gave out and it was one of those injuries, a freak injury."

Abif didn't allow the frustration after the injury to affect his work in the classroom.

He received his bachelor's degree in sports management and is working toward his master's degree in hospitality management.

"In a way it has been a blessing that due to the injury, I am going to get the chance to earn my master's degree," he said.

This season, Abif has been a fixture in the lineup. He is averaging 8.6 points and 6.6 rebounds in 28.7 minutes. Abif has been getting stronger as the season has progressed. He is averaging 13 points in his last four games.

"Having Kaz healthy and being able play a full season is one of the positives this year," Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said. "It's too bad we're having a season like this and I am sure he wanted to go out with a bang."

Still, it hasn't dampened his enthusiasm. "Kaz is always out there playing with energy," Flint said.

Abif graduated from University High in Newark and then attended Lawrenceville Prep for a year before enrolling at Drexel.

This year's losing has naturally been frustrating, but Abif counts his blessings in all he has been able to experience in basketball.

He has been able to travel with the team to tournaments in the Virgin Islands and Alaska, to name two.

"Basketball has taken me to some great places," he said.

This year the best place has been the actual court, where Abif has been able to stay for the most extended period of his Drexel career.

mnarducci@phillynews.com

@sjnard