BIO: Omar Samhan was born in Oakland, California (USA).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Omar Samhan made his NBL debut with the Townsville Crocodiles on 30/12/1899. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

Townsville entered 2015/16 after finishing sixth with an 11-17 record before the club went into voluntary administration during the off-season and was eventually cleared to continue in the NBL. Todd Blanchfield (to Melbourne), Steven Markovic (to Sydney), Mickell Gladness, Jacob Holmes (retired) and Greg Vanderjagt (retired) departed, with Vanderjagt moving onto Shawn Dennis’ coaching staff. Brian Conklin, Clint Steindl, Mitchell Norton, Mirko Djeric and Leon Henry returned, while Dennis added Jordair Jett, Nicholas Kay (via Metro State), Luke Schenscher (via Adelaide), Corey Maynard (via Cairns) and Mitchell Young (via Cairns). Reigning NBL MVP Conklin was re-signed and appointed captain.

Townsville fell to 2-9 before reaching 4-10 at the end of November, when the Crocodiles terminated Conklin’s contract. Conklin (13.5 points and 6.6 rebounds across 13 games) had earlier been cleared after an elbow incident which broke Damian Martin’s jaw, before another elbow incident involving Mitch Creek resulted in a three-match suspension, with two games suspended for the remainder of the season. Conklin served one game of the suspension, explaining why he had played 13 times despite Townsville having completed 14 games when his contract was terminated. “Thank you to all the Crocs fans and my team-mates and coaches for this wonderful season and for a great three seasons,” Conklin wrote. “Unfortunately the club has terminated my contract and I will no longer be able to captain this club. All the best to the boys and coaches going forward.” The Crocodiles cited a number of “sub-par performances” as the reason for the move and publicly stated, “There are no outside factors or reasons behind this decision – we simply want to give this club the best chance of being successful in the competition,” although contemporary commentary questioned whether the timing of his contract becoming guaranteed and Townsville’s financial position had also influenced the decision. After splitting its next two games, Townsville was 5-11 when Omar Samhan was signed for the remainder of the season to take Conklin’s import position. The former St Mary’s big man had already signed with the NW Tasmania Thunder for the coming SEABL season and had played alongside Steindl and Young in college.

Schenscher (4.1 points and 3.1 rebounds across 13 games) battled ankle problems throughout the season, with Harry Froling (1.6 points across 9 games) used as his injury replacement. Froling’s nine appearances were spread between October 9 and December 12 and included the Crocodiles’ season opener, rather than him being added with nine games remaining. Maynard (6.1 points across 25 games) later missed Townsville’s January 8 and January 16 games with an ankle injury, leading the Crocodiles to bring back Chris Cedar (1.5 points across 2 games) as his injury replacement for those two games before Maynard returned against New Zealand on January 21.

Samhan made his NBL debut at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on December 10, coming from the bench for 10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block as the Crocodiles recovered from 15 points down during the final four minutes to defeat Adelaide 101-100. Jett (21 points and 5 assists) and Kay (19 points and 7 rebounds) led Townsville, with Kay completing the 20-4 finish with a last-second dunk, while Jerome Randle (28 points and 7 assists) led Adelaide.

Samhan (13.3 points and 8.9 rebounds across 12 games) played every one of Townsville’s remaining 12 games after joining the club, meaning his shortened season was entirely the result of his midseason arrival and not injury. He came from the bench in his first four appearances before starting each of the final eight games, recorded five double-doubles and helped Townsville go 6-6 with him in the lineup.

Samhan’s best all-round game came against Adelaide at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on January 16, making 9-of-13 field goals and two three-pointers to finish with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks. Jett (29 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists) and Norton (21 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists) also produced season-high scoring performances, but Randle (34 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists) led Adelaide to a 108-103 victory.

Jett (15.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.3 assists across all 28 games) finished as Townsville’s leading scorer and won the Kevin Sugars Medal as club MVP, while Steindl (12.7 points and 3.5 rebounds across all 28 games) was named the NBL’s Most Improved Player and Kay (10.7 points and 6.6 rebounds across all 28 games) won Rookie of the Year. Norton (8.8 points across all 28 games) provided another consistent presence in the backcourt and Djeric (5.3 points across 24 games) delivered his best season to that point, while Dennis was rewarded with the NBL Coach of the Year award. Townsville went 7-7 following Conklin’s departure and again produced a winning 8-6 record at home but managed only three road victories. It would prove to be the Crocodiles’ final NBL season, with the club withdrawing from the 2016/17 competition after being unable to generate sufficient local financial support.

Samhan’s highest-scoring game came in what became Townsville’s final NBL game on February 13, where Samhan (25 points and 13 rebounds) delivered his NBL career-high as the Crocodiles defeated Sydney 126-123 in double overtime. Steindl (25 points and 3 rebounds) and Jett (21 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists) provided the other major contributions, while Jason Cadee (32 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists) led Sydney. The victory completed an 11-17 season and left Townsville seventh on the ladder.

Omar Samhan played one season in the NBL. He averaged 13.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 12 NBL games.