Omar Wattad is entering his fifth season as Lander's head men's basketball coach. Wattad became the eighth head coach in program history when he was hired in April 2020.
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Under Head Coach Wattad's leadership, the Bearcats finished the 2023-24 season 22-10 overall and 12-6 in the PBC. The Bearcats remained atop the conference standings throughout the season, defeating opponents such as nationally ranked #21 USC Aiken and #5/6 North Georgia. Lander advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row and the third time in the last five years under Wattad. The No. 6 seeded Bearcats defeated No. 3 seeded Lincoln Memorial 85-76 in the NCAA DII Southeast Regional opening round. The Bearcats then defeated No. 7 Emmanuel University 86-78 to advance to the Sweet 16, where they met conference foe and regional host No. 1 North Georgia. The Bearcats' incredible season ended with a hard-fought 70-67 loss against the Nighthawks in the Sweet 16 and regional championship.Â
Coach Wattad saw three Bearcats, Inady Legiste, Phillip Burwell, and Jacob Cooper, named to the 2023-24 All-Conference first and third teams.Â
Wattad guided the Bearcats to a 22-10 overall record and a 12-6 PBC record during the 2022-23 season. Wattad also added a pair of wins over nationally ranked opponents in 2022-23. The Bearcats first beat No. 22 North Georgia at Horne Arena 76-75 on January 7 before taking down No. 11/14 Augusta at 81-63 Horne Arena on February 8.
He would see a pair of Bearcats, Jared Sherfield and Jacoob Cooper, named to the All-Conference second and third team.
Lander also reached the PBC Tournament Finals for the first time under Wattad after defeating Young Harris and the No. 1 seed in the PBC Tournament, USC Aiken. Lander would unfortunately fall to Augusta in the PBC finals. Another first for the Bearcats under Wattad would be the first NCAA Tournament game played since the 2015-16 season. Lander, the No. 6 seed, would battle No. 3 Lincoln Memorial where the Bearcats would fall 76-63 in the first round.
The 2021-22 season saw the Bearcats go 14-15 overall and 8-10 in the PBC. Wattad led his squad to a pair of victories over nationally ranked foes at Horne Arena. Lander took down #12/13 Augusta on January 12 with an 88-81 victory while defeating #21/25 Flagler to conclude the regular season 74-66. Dominic Stanford was named the PBC Freshman of The Year, becoming the first Bearcat to be named Freshman of The Year in program history. Jared Sherfield was named to the All-PBC team as well. Lander advanced to the PBC semifinals as the No. 6 seed after taking down No. 3 Georgia College 83-79 before falling 67-62 to No. 25 Flagler in Augusta, Ga.
Wattad picked up his first win as a head coach on December 9, 2020 after Lander defeated USC Aiken 73-66. The 2020-21 season saw two Bearcats (Deon Berrien and DaJuan Moorer) named to the PBC all-Conference team.
Wattad has coached four All-PBC selections, one Freshman of The Year and has four wins over nationally ranked teams.
Wattad comes to Greenwood after six successful seasons on Josh Schertz's staff at Lincoln Memorial. In Wattad's six seasons with the Lincoln Memorial program, the Railsplitters went 178-24 with five NCAA Tournament berths, including two trips to the Final Four and an appearance in the 2016 national title game. His teams won five South Atlantic Conference regular-season titles and three SAC Tournament championships, making three appearances in the NCAA Southeast Region championship game.Â
In 2019-20, Wattad helped lead LMU to a program-record 32 wins, a No. 2 national ranking, and the top seed in the NCAA Southeast Regional. The Railsplitters' 32-game winning streak was the longest in all of college basketball. Â
Wattad joined the LMU program after playing professionally with the Energy Invest Rustavi Basketball Club in the Georgian Super League and the Hapoel Holon Basketball Club in the Israeli Winner League.Â
After playing two seasons at Georgetown, Wattad transferred to Tennessee-Chattanooga, where he compiled 820 points, 230 boards and 119 assists in two seasons with the Mocs as a two-time All-Southern Conference performer. Upon graduation, Wattad ranked fourth all-time at UTC for career three-point field goals, fifth in three-point field goal attempts and 30th in scoring in the program's D-I era.
Wattad played at Science Hill High School, where he left as the program's all-time leading scorer with 2,285 points. He was a two-time all-state selection as well as a two-time region MVP. On November 2, 2015, Wattad was inducted into the Science Hill High School Hall of Fame.
A native of Shreveport, La., Wattad earned his bachelor's degree in sociology from UTC in and a master's degree from LMU.
