Ansar Al-Ameen joined the Omaha Women's Basketball team coaching staff in May 2023 as an assistant coach. He comes to Omaha after five seasons as head coach of the men's basketball team at Florida Memorial University.
"I am excited to welcome a coach of Ansar’s caliber to Omaha," noted Head Coach Carrie Banks. "His head coaching experience and extensive work in skill development will be a huge asset to our program.”
Al-Ameen led FMU to 54 wins during his time as head coach, as well as two Sun Conference Tournament appearances. The team's best season under Al-Ameen came in 2021-22, when they went 17-11 and ultimately won the Sun Conference and qualified for the NAIA Tournament for the third time ever.
Before his time at Florida Memorial, Al-Ameen had an illustrious coaching and training career that spanned nearly every level of play, including high school, NAIA, Power 5, the AAU, international leagues, and the NBA.
He began his coaching career with one of the top AAU programs in the nation with the Oakland Soldiers in Northern California, where he worked for the first time with future NBA legend LeBron James. Al-Ameen would get his first coaching gig in the NCAA with Fresno State in 1997. There, he helped guide the Bulldogs to two NIT Tournaments, as well as an NCAA Tournament in his last year with the program. Under his guidance, Courtney Alexander became the first player in Western Athletic Conference history to lead the nation in scoring.
In 2000, Al-Ameen made the jump to Power 5 competition, joining Missouri back when they were in the Big XII. In his two years with the team, the Tigers made the NCAA Tournament twice, advancing to the second round in his first year and the Elite Eight in his second.
In addition to coaching, Al-Ameen has also been a trainer for many NBA players, including LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Jamal Crawford, and Paul Pierce. He is often regarded as one of the top basketball trainers in America, with Marion calling him "one of the top 3 workout trainers in the country," and Carmelo saying "Ansar has been tremendous in my NBA development over the years; his methods are challenging and innovative."
During the mid-2000s, Al-Ameen took his skills overseas, living in Iran and serving as coach/trainer for Team ZobAhan in Isfahan and even helping four of their players make Iran's 2008 Olympic team.
That same year, Al-Ameen returned to the NCAA with Texas Southern University, before joining the coaching staff at Prairie View A&M University in 2010 where he helped them to their first conference championship appearance since 1998.
Finally, in 2014, Al-Ameen transitioned to being a high school head coach with De Anza High School in Richmond, California, bringing with him a massive culture shift that saw the team's performance both on the court and in the classroom drastically improve.
Prior to his coaching career, Al-Ameen was a member of the United States Air Force and was stationed in Saudi Arabia from 1993-96.
