Ryan Odom leaves Utah State to become new head coach at VCU
Ryan Odom is heading back East after two seasons at Utah State, announced Wednesday evening as the new head coach at VCU. Odom went 44-25 with the Aggies, including 26 wins and a NCAA Tournament at-large bid this past season.
“We welcome Ryan Odom as our next basketball coach with great excitement about our future,” AD Ed McLaughlin said. “Ryan has won at every stop along his coaching journey and has done it with a player-centered approach that develops them into young men who will succeed in the world. He has won conference championships, won in the NCAA Tournament and raised the standard at every program through integrity, empathy and appreciation. We know that Ryan will continue to build sustainable national success that will take our next step toward winning a national championship and we look forward to having Lucia and the boys as part of Ram Nation.”
Odom was previously the head coach at UMBC, bursting onto the national scene in March 2018 by beating Virginia by 20 points in the first 16-over-1 upset in men’s NCAA Tournament history. Before UMBC, Odom was the head coach at D-II Lenoir-Rhyne and at D-I Charlotte. He is the son of Dave Odom, the former head coachh at South Carolina, Wake Forest and East Carolina.
“Lucia and I could not be more excited about joining the VCU and greater Richmond communities,” Odom said. “We look forward to continuing the incredible tradition of excellence that VCU Basketball has embodied for many years. We are humbled with the honor of leading this outstanding program and will fight each day to produce a program our university, alumni and fans can be extremely proud to call their own. I would like to particularly thank Dr. Michael Rao and Ed McLaughlin for their belief in me and for this wonderful opportunity. We cannot wait to join this tremendous community and begin to work to enhance this incredible program.”
Originally from North Carolina, Odom has ties to Virginia via his playing days at D-III Hampden-Sydney and coaching stints at Virginia Tech (2003-10) and American (2000-03).
credit to VCU Athletics for the image
