Omar Wattad enters his seventh year as head coach of the Lander men’s basketball program in 2026-27. Wattad became the program’s eighth head coach when he was hired in April 2020 and has amassed a record of 110-64 to date.
The 2025-26 campaign was the most successful and historic in Lander’s 58-year history. Wattad led the Bearcats to their first 30-win season and first National Championship game appearance. Along the way, Lander claimed its first outright Peach Belt Conference regular season championship and its sixth PBC Tournament title. It was the first time Lander won both the regular-season and tournament titles in the same year. En route to Indianapolis, the Bearcats also won the NCAA Southeast Regional championship for the first time to complete the trifecta. Finishing 30-6, Wattad earned his first PBC Coach of the Year Award after guiding the team to a 17-3 conference record. Those 17 wins and .850 winning percentage in league play set new Lander records. Wattad earned his 100th career win on Feb. 21, 2026, at USCA. He became the program’s second-winningest head coach a week later on Feb. 28, 2026, at Middle Georgia. Lander won a school-record 15 consecutive games from Feb. 11 to March 27.
Under Wattad’s direction, Jacob Daniels was named the PBC Freshman of the Year, an NABC All-District Southeast Second Team member and a First Team All-PBC selection. Daniels also garnered the PBC Tournament Most Valuable Player Award. Dylan Canoville was named to the Second Team All-PBC while Greyson Pritzl was on the Third Team All-PBC. Pritzl, the NCAA Tournament Southeast Region Most Outstanding Player, was joined on the NCAA All-Tournament Team by Daniels.
In 2024-25, the Bearcats advanced to the PBC Tournament for the fourth consecutive season. Making the All-PBC Second Team were Noah Dunn and Inady Legiste.
2023-24 marked another milestone for Wattad and the Bearcats as they clinched an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament for the second time during his tenure. Lander took advantage of its opportunity by making a run to the Sweet Sixteen for only the second time in program history. The Bearcats ended the season with a 22-10 record and a third-place finish in the PBC regular season standings. Legiste became Wattad’s first player to earn First Team All-PBC honors. Phillip Burwell and Jacob Cooper were Third Team All-PBC selections.
The first NCAA Tournament selection of Wattad’s head-coaching career came in his third season at the helm in 2022-23 after leading the Bearcats to the PBC Tournament Championship game in just his second postseason appearance. LU compiled a 22-10 record and claimed the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament. Jared Sherfield (Second Team) and Cooper (Third Team) were recognized as All-PBC performers.
Wattad coached Lander to the PBC Tournament for the first time in 2021-22 following the truncated 2020-21 season. The Bearcats topped Georgia College in the quarterfinals as the No. 6 seed to give Wattad his first conference tournament victory. Dominic Stanford became LU’s first PBC Freshman of the Year and Sherfield was honored on the Third Team All-PBC.
Wattad mentored Deon Berrien and DaJuan Moorer to the All-PBC Second Team in his first season. He collected his first career win on Dec. 9, 2020, at USCA. In six seasons with the Bearcats, Wattad has seen 13 players named All-PBC, including two First Team honorees and a pair of Freshman of the Year recipients.
Wattad arrived in Greenwood after six successful seasons on Josh Schertz's staff at Lincoln Memorial. In his time at LMU, the Railsplitters went 178-24 with five NCAA Tournament berths, including two trips to the Final Four and an appearance in the 2016 National Championship. His teams won five South Atlantic Conference regular-season titles and three SAC Tournament championships, making three appearances in the NCAA Southeast Regional championship game.
In 2019-20, Wattad helped lead the Railsplitters to a program-record 32 wins, a No. 2 national ranking, and the top seed in the NCAA Southeast Region. LMU’s 32-game winning streak was the longest in all of college basketball.
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.
After playing two seasons at Georgetown, Wattad transferred to Tennessee-Chattanooga, where he compiled 820 points, 230 rebounds 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 in career 3-point field goals, fifth in 3-point field goal attempts and 30th in scoring in the program's DI era.
Before college, Wattad played at Science Hill High School in Johnson City, Tennessee, 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 Nov. 2, 2015, Wattad was inducted into the Science Hill Hall of Fame.
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Wattad was raised in Johnson City, Tennessee. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from Tennessee-Chattanooga and a Master's Degree in Conflict Resolution & Mediation from Lincoln Memorial.
Wattad is married to wife, Dr. Mayada Elian. They have two sons, Seleem and Ibraheem, and a daughter, Layan.
