Utah State hires UMBC’s Ryan Odom as its next head men’s basketball coach

Ryan Odom, the head coach who led UMBC to the first ever NCAA Tournament victory for a 16-seed over a 1-seed in 2018, has been hired as the new head coach at Utah State, the school announced Monday. Odom, the son of longtime college head coach Dave Odom, was 97-60 in five seasons with the Retrievers.

“We are beyond excited to announce Ryan Odom as Utah State’s new men’s basketball head coach,” AD John Hartwell said in a press release. “We had great interest from many qualified candidates and Ryan quickly distinguished himself as the clear choice. Ryan has a proven track record of accomplishments with his student-athletes, both in the classroom and on the court, and we are confident he will continue to elevate the success of our Aggie basketball program.”

Prior to UMBC, Odom was the head coach at D-II Lenoir-Rhyne (NC) for one year. He also spent time as an assistant at Charlotte, Virginia Tech, American, UNC Asheville, Furman, and South Florida. He is 126-91 overall as a collegiate head coach.

“My family and I are thrilled to be joining Utah State University and the Cache Valley community,” said Odom. “With President (Noelle) Cockett and Vice President John Hartwell, there is an outstanding foundation and great leadership, and I can’t tell you how excited we are to experience ‘The HURD,’ and build upon the storied history and recent success of Aggie basketball.”

Previous USU head coach Craig Smith was hired last month in the same role at rival Utah. He had led the Aggies to three-straight NCAA Tournament bids and won 20+ games in each of those seasons.

credit to Annapolis Capital Gazette for the photo