Ansar Al-Ameen joins the Prairie View A&M coaching staff for his third season as the team’s assistant coach.
A native of the state of California, Ansar helped the Panthers post a four-game turnaround and a third-place finish in the SWAC Regular Season standings during the 2011-12 campaign. A specialist in guard play, the Prairie View A&M guards provided the bulk of the team’s scoring as Jourdan DeMuynck, Louis Munks and Ryan Gesiakowski ranked 1-2-3 in scoring for the Panthers in their first season of NCAA Division I action. Gesiakowski ranked third in the SWAC and 164th nationally in three-point shooting while DeMuynck led the Panthers in scoring, steals, free throws made and field goal attempts.
Al-Ameen had two players earn All-SWAC honors in his first year as a member of the Prairie View A&M coaching staff in the 2010-11 season. Known as a tireless recruiter, Al-Ameen followed up his first season at Prairie View by signing several impressive prospects from across the country.
Al-Ameen arrived at Prairie View A&M after spending two seasons at conference rival Texas Southern. While at TSU, Al-Ameen helped guide the Tigers to the finals of the SWAC Men’s Basketball Tournament in only his second season on the staff in addition to posting a winning record for the first time since the 2002-03 campaign. TSU also had the 12th-best turnaround record in the nation this past season as the Tigers went from 7-25 in 2008-09 to 17-16 in 2009-10 with four players earning All-SWAC Honors.
Known as a highly regarded basketball workout trainer among NBA players and across the world, Al-Ameen was summoned to develop and workout 7-5 Iranian center Jaber Rouzbahani in anticipation of the 2004 NBA Draft in addition to several other Iranian athletes who went on to represent their country in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
Prior to his stint overseas, Al-Ameen spent two years at the University of Missouri under former head coach Quin Snyder as the team’s player development coach. Al-Ameen worked extensively with Missouri’s individual workouts and coordinated the team’s conditioning. Using Al-Ameen’s methods, Missouri reached the NCAA Tournament twice including an Elite Eight Appearance in 2002. In addition, Al-Ameen helped former MU standout Kareem Rush record two individual season scoring records and become an All-American and Wooden Award candidate en route to being drafted by the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers.
Al-Ameen received his first opportunity to coach on the collegiate level at Fresno State University in 1997 after making an impression during the team’s summer camps. Working under basketball legend Jerry “The Shark” Tarkanian, Al-Ameen helped the Bulldogs earn two NIT appearances and one NCAA Tournament showing. Al-Ameen is credited with turning former Fresno State star Courtney Alexander into an NBA lottery pick after becoming the first Fresno State and WAC player to lead the NCAA in scoring in 2000.
His career began on the AAU level with the nationally renowned Oakland Soldiers program in Northern California which is regarded as one of the top AAU programs in the nation. As a member of the organization, Al-Ameen has worked with players such as Leon Powe, Drew Gooden, Chuck Hayes and LeBron James.
Upon graduating from high school, Al-Ameen enlisted with the United States Air Force and was stationed at Beale Air Force Base in Marysville, Calif., where he served until 1996. He has also spent time on the high school level as a coach at Kennedy High School in Richmond, Calif.
Al-Ameen holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Fresno State.
