Known primarily as a football town, Lincolnton, Georgia is home to the Class A-Public No. 7 Lincoln County Red Devils who are enjoying one of their best seasons in the past 20 years. The main catalyst for all this new found success? Ahmad Rand. The 6-foot-7 junior power forward has averaged 16.7 points, 16.4 rebounds and 9.6 blocks on his way to shattering the school record for career triple-doubles. 

Rand has exploded onto the scene after an offseason playing with Team Power in Augusta and working with Lincoln County Head Coach Wesley Wuchte. 

“I’ve been doing a lot of individual workouts with my coach in the offseason. Plus I’ve been into AAU which has definitely helped me out a little bit,” said Rand. 

Coach Wuchte likens Rand's quickness and explosiveness to that of a former 4-time NBA All-Star. 

"He's extremely quick off his feet. I don't know if I've seen somebody that jumps so quick. It's almost kind of like Shawn Marion. Just extremely quick. He doesn't have to power up. If he's there, he's going to dunk it." 

Rand has not only changed games in the paint, but he has also shown enough touch to step outside and knock down jumpers out to the three-point line. 

“When I started seeing myself get better, I started going home and thinking real hard about it," stated Rand. "This year I said I have to have a better season than last year and that’s what I’ve been doing. And every day I’ve been working harder and harder and my name started getting out there more.”

Ahmad has played power forward and center in high school, but has started to work on his outside game to provide versatility at the three if needed. So far, a handful of Division II schools have shown interest in the blossoming big while Kennesaw State is the lone D-I school Rand has heard from.