NCDS: Kyle Smith, Assoc. Head Coach - St. Mary's (Sweet 16: Omar Samhan and the O-Meter)

By: Kyle Smith, Assoc. Head Coach - St. Mary's

What most of the nation has now become aware of, I have been blessed to have a courtside seat to witness.... the evolution of Omar Samhan. 

Love him or hate him, you have to pay attention to him. Omar has always been a talker. I can  remember as if it were yesterday when Omar came up to  campus to sit down and talk about a scholarship to come to Saint Mary's. It was actually August going into his collegiate freshman year and he was looking for a school still. He  had comitted elsewhere, but things had gone wrong; no surprise... We had been recruiting Omar all year but we were not in a position to step up and offer him until now.  We had two seven-footer's in the program already and we were not  sure if we could take on another unproven commodity.

Omar was coming off a senior year where he dominated the local competition but there were still quite a few questions about a 330 pound center who could not even dunk, much less get up and down the court at the Division I  level. Randy and I met with Omar and his mother on a hot night with no air conditioning in the office, sweat pouring down our faces, all of us not knowing what to expect. Omar had been playing in pick-up games, open gyms, and summer leagues and the word on the street was he was a sleeper. At the very least we were going to take an interest.

About 10 minutes into the meeting, I am pretty sure we were all in. Randy and I had not had a chance to discuss yet,  but judging from the tone of the conversation and the amount of laughs everyone was having I could not see us passing on a guy with that much personality. Omar had made  so many declarations during the conversation that I had to put up the " O-meter" on the grease board. The "O-meter"  was a gauge that would monitor the veracity of some of his statements. For example, we had a fifteen minute argument over the fact that his grandfather had a National  Championship ring that he wore all the time. Randy asked,  "Where did your grandfather play?" Omar replied, "Oregon  State." We eventually had to go to a computer do a little search to prove that Omar was misinformed. Now, I don't recommend challenging statements from guys you are trying to recruit to your program. However, this was no normal recruit. Omar loved being challenged and loved arguing his point. Even after I  showed him the fact that Oregon State had never won a national championship, he insisted they did. That is Omar, and the "O-meter" is still on my grease board.

Randy and I met after the meeting and we knew we had to have him at least for the comic effect if not anything else. I looked at Randy and I told him my center on my college team, Snake, had the exact same personality. Randy knows Snake and agreed that there were some striking  similarities. Neither one of them were lacking confiidence in their game. Snake and I played at a Division III school  in Upstate New York. We were very good and Snake was an All-American. Like Omar, Snake couldn't understand why his recruitment wasn't at a higher level. To this day, Snake  is certain tha he could have played at Syracuse. He was also certain that he would have started for Saint Mary's at age 31. I called Snake after Omar signed and told him that I think we have one that you might like.

After I finally introduced them, Snake immediately felt a  bond. I am not sure if Omar had the same spark or feels  the same way, but anyone who saw Snake play and watches Omar now can really appreciate their similarities. After Snake met him, he decided to get courtside seats. It got  to the point where Snake and his son would wear Omar's jersey to the games and record the games to watch them again. I am pretty sure Snake's son's first word was Omar.  Then it got to the point where Snake would wear Omar's jersey. Normally, that is a faux pas for a middle-aged man, but to know these two we need to make an exception.  We thought the relationship culminated in Omar chest-bumping with Snake on senior night. We thought the fun might have ended somewhere shortly after that, how wrong we were.. We have gotten to the point where I saw Snake and Omar talking about what would come next.  Snake dubbed Omar  "Ali" and named himself Bundini... Does that make Randy, Angeolo Dundee? I was thinking maybe "Broadway O." It doesn't get any better than this... Let's make it last. Do it for Earl! (See Below)


Side notes

Headed to Houston this week, which is a homecoming for me. I graduated from Alief Hastings High School in 1987. This  woud be great personal redemption for our 35-3 "Dream  Team" which lost to LaPorte in the Regional Final. My high cchool coach who means the world to me, Rick Sherley, will  be in attendance Friday night. I would love to share a win with him.

My wife and I are expecting our second child. We are so  blessed... If we manage to get to the Final Four, I have been given naming rights if we have a boy. If things go right, I will honor the greatest Houstonian athlete of my generation with Earl Campbell Smith. Luv ya Earl! Maybe I can get some momentum for Campbell Earl Smith if it is a girl.

Go Gaels!!

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