Omar Samhan: Athletics Hall of Fame

Omar Samhan was inducted into the Saint Mary's Athletics Hall of Fame in January 2024.

Samhan came to Saint Mary's from nearby San Ramon Valley High School, and immediately made his impact felt in his freshman season. The 6-11 big man averaged nine points and six rebounds per contest in his debut season, earning freshman All-American honors, and only got better from there.

He is most remembered for his epic senior campaign during the 2009-10 season, where he averaged a double-double en route to earning WCC Defensive Player of the Year and honorable mention All-American honors. Samhan led the Gaels to a 28-6 record and to the 2010 WCC Tournament Title, the first won by Saint Mary's since 1997.

With the tournament title came an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, where Samhan and the Gaels quickly showed they deserved to be. Entering as a 10 seed in the South region, the Gaels first traveled to Providence, where they first dispatched of the seventh seeded Richmond Spiders before taking down the second seeded Villanova Wildcats in what Samhan called the "Best Win Ever", punching their ticket to the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history, and the first since 1959. Omar averaged over 20 points per game in those two victories, and would put up a 15 point, nine rebound performance against Baylor in the Sweet 16, but the Bears would get the best of the Gaels, ending the Cinderella run.

Samhan would graduate from Saint Mary's as the all-time leader in field goals made (737), blocked shots (258) and game played (133), with the field goal and blocked shot records still holding today. He also is one of two players in program history to finish their career with 1,000+ points and 1,000+ rebounds for his career.

Following his time in Moraga, Samhan enjoyed a 10 year international career, highlighted by his 2011 Baltic League Title with Zalgiris and his 2015 Egyptian League Title with Alexandria Sporting Club. Samhan also reunited with his collegiate teammates to take part in the 2018 and 2019 TBT with Team Gael Force.