Omar Samhan

Omar Samhan
Samhan (center) in 2010
Personal information
Born (1988-11-03) November 3, 1988 (age 36)
Oakland, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican / Egyptian
Listed height6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight268 lb (122 kg)
Career information
High schoolSan Ramon Valley
(Danville, California)
CollegeSaint Mary's (2006–2010)
NBA draft2010: undrafted
Playing career2010–2019
PositionCenter
Career history
2010–2011Žalgiris
2012Tropang Texters
2013ratiopharm Ulm
2013–2014Alexandria Sporting Club
2014–2015Texas Legends
2015–2016Townsville Crocodiles
2016Atléticos de San Germán
2016–2017Leuven Bears
2017Santeros de Aguada
2017Shiga Lakestars
2018Cariduros de Fajardo
2019Mineros de Zacatecas
2019Plateros de Fresnillo
Career highlights and awards

Omar Hassan Samhan (born November 3, 1988) is an American-Egyptian professional former basketball player. He played college basketball for Saint Mary's College of California where he was an honorable mention All-American in 2010. In 2011, Samhan joined the Egypt national basketball team.[1]

Career

College

In his freshman season with the Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball, Samhan was named to the West Coast Conference All-Freshmen team and was a Freshman All-American selection by CollegeInsider.com. He played in all 32 games including seven starts and was the team's third highest scorer and second highest rebounder, averaged 9.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.[2]

In his sophomore season, Samhan earned honorable mention All-WCC honors after starting every game and scoring in double figures 18 times. He finished third on the team in scoring (10.5 ppg) and second in rebounds (7.3 rpg).[2]

In his junior season, Samhan earned first-team All-WCC honors after finishing 10th in the conference in scoring and third in rebounds and was second on the team in scoring (14.1 ppg) and rebounds (9.4 rpg). He also ranked 29th in the country in rebounds per game and 40th in the nation with 2.0 blocks per game.[2]

In his senior season, Samhan scored 61 points in two NCAA tournament victories,[3] including 32 points in a win over Villanova.[4] He earned first-team All-WCC honors for the second straight year and was named the WCC Defensive Player of the Year. He also earned Associated Press honorable mention All-American honors after leading the WCC during the regular season in scoring (21.5 ppg), rebounds (11.1 rpg) and blocks (2.9 bpg).[2]

Professional career

After going undrafted in the 2010 NBA draft, Samhan joined the Dallas Mavericks for the 2010 NBA Summer League.[5] On July 16, 2010, he signed a two-year deal (with the option of a third) with Žalgiris of the Lithuanian Basketball League.[6] He left Žalgiris after just one season.

On December 13, 2011, Samhan signed with the Houston Rockets.[7]

In February 2012, Samhan signed with the Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters of the Philippine Basketball Association.[8]

In February 2013, Samhan signed with ratiopharm Ulm of Germany for the rest of the 2012–13 season.[9] I

In the summer of 2013, Samhan signed with the Alexandria Sporting Club for the 2013–14 Egyptian Basketball Premier League season.

On July 20, 2014, Samhan signed with King Wilki Morskie of Poland for the 2014–15 season.[10] However, On November 3, 2014, Samhan was acquired by the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.[11] On March 13, 2015, he was waived by the Legends after appearing in 18 games.[12] On April 4, he was acquired by the Los Angeles D-Fenders,[12] closing out the season with the team.

On December 9, 2015, Samham signed with the Townsville Crocodiles for the rest of the 2015–16 NBL season.[13] He made his debut for the Crocodiles the following day, recording 10 points and 6 rebounds off the bench in a 101–100 win over the Adelaide 36ers.[14] In 12 games for the Crocodiles, he averaged 13.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. Following the conclusion of the NBL season, he snubbed both the NW Tasmania Thunder[15][16] and Taranaki Mountainairs[17][18] to sign in Puerto Rico with Atléticos de San Germán for the 2016 BSN season.[19][20]

On September 15, 2016, Samhan snubbed Trabzonspor Medical Park [21] to sign in Belgium with Leuven Bears of Scooore League for 2016–2017 season .[22] In March 2017, he parted ways with Leuven.[23]

On April 2, 2017, Samhan signed with other Puerto rican side Santeros de Aguada.[24]

On July 23, 2017, he signed with the Japanese team Shiga Lakestars.[25]

On April 22, 2018, he returned for the third time to Puerto Rico to sign with Cariduros de Fajardo.[26]

On February 7, 2019, he signed with the Mexican team Mineros de Zacatecas.[27] On August 24, 2019, he signed with the new Mexican team Plateros Fresnillo .[28]

The Basketball Tournament

Omar Samhan played for Team Gael Force in the 2018 edition of The Basketball Tournament. In three games, he averaged a team-high 17.7 points per game, 4.7 rebounds per game and 3.7 assists per game. Team Gael Force made it to the Super 16 before falling to eventual tournament runner-up, Eberlein Drive.

He also played for the same team in the 2019 edition of the Tournament. In one game, he made the double-double as he scored 12 points, 10 rebounds and 1 steal. Team Gael Force fell to Jackson TN.

Personal life

Samhan, of Egyptian and Irish descent,[1] is the son of Marianne and Hassan Samhan and is the youngest of four children. He has an older sister, Katie, and older brothers, Sadek and Jon.[2] Samhan is Muslim.[29]

References

  1. ^ a b Inman, Cam (February 14, 2011). "Former Saint Mary's star Omar Samhan to join Egyptian national team". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e "#50 Omar Samhan". smcgaels.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  3. ^ Kroner, Steve (March 22, 2010), "Gaels' big man Samhan is always drawing a crowd", The San Francisco Chronicle, retrieved March 22, 2010
  4. ^ Thamel, Pete (March 20, 2010), "St. Mary's Knocks Out Villanova", The New York Times, retrieved March 22, 2010
  5. ^ Schroeder, Scott (June 28, 2010). "NBA Summer League Rosters - Vegas". Ridiculous Upside. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  6. ^ "ZALGIRIS adds size with Samhan, keeps Watson". Euroleague.net. July 16, 2010. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  7. ^ "Rockets Add Camp Invitees Samhan & Saunders". CBSLocal.com. December 13, 2011. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  8. ^ Bolante, Mikkel (February 16, 2012). "Samhan to love: Former US NCAA star ready to lead Talk 'N Text title defense". InterAksyon.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  9. ^ "Omar Samhan signs with Ratiopharm Ulm". Court-Side.com. February 21, 2013. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  10. ^ "King Wilki Morskie signs Omar Samhan". Sportando.com. July 20, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  11. ^ "Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. November 3, 2014. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  12. ^ a b "NBA D-League | NBA D-League 2014-15 Transactions". June 26, 2015. Archived from the original on June 26, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ^ "CROCS SIGN NEW IMPORT OMAR SAMHAN". Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
  14. ^ "Crocodiles vs 36ers". Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  15. ^ Whiteley, Cameron (November 19, 2015). "Thunder sign Omar Samhan for 2016". The Advocate. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  16. ^ Slessor, Camron (January 28, 2016). "Samhan turns back on Coast for NZ". The Advocate. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  17. ^ "Australian Basketball News, Scores, Stats, Analysis, Standings". www.australiabasket.com. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  18. ^ Hills, Murray (January 8, 2016). "Taranaki Mountain Airs snare Townsville Croc for 2016 season". Stuff. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  19. ^ "Atléticos firman al pívot Omar Samhan". bsnpr.com. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  20. ^ "Import Setback For Taranaki Mountain Airs". Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2016.
  21. ^ "Basketbol Transfer Haberleri: Trabzonspor Medical Park'ı reddetti, Belçika Ligi'ne gidiyor - Hızlı Hücum | Basketbolun Nabzı". Archived from the original on September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  22. ^ David Pick [@IAmDPick] (September 15, 2016). "Told Omar Samhan decided against going to Trabzonapor and signed with Leuven Bears, deal includes outs" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. ^ "Aanvoerder Samham verlaat Leuven Bears". March 25, 2017.
  24. ^ "Santeros firman a Samhan".
  25. ^ "ニュース".
  26. ^ @mrkrossover (April 20, 2018). "#Highlight Omar Samhan, Centro de 6'11 de estatura y 265 lbs, es el nuevo refuerzo de los Cariduros de #Fajardo. Se…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  27. ^ http://www.lnbp.mx/Mineros/news.html?id=1103 [bare URL]
  28. ^ @PlaterosFres (August 25, 2019). "Dominando la tabla con toda su energía y poderío apodado the Beast el es:🏀🛡💪 ¡Omar Samhan!🏀🛡💪¡Bienvenido a Plate…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  29. ^ Ghilarducci, Teresa (March 22, 2010). "The Final Four and American Greatness". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved March 14, 2017.