New Virginia men’s basketball coach Ryan Odom’s 2024-25 season with VCU, his second as the program’s head coach, was undeniably excellent — 28 wins, 15 Atlantic 10 victories and a clean run through the A-10 Tournament en route to an NCAA Tournament appearance. The Rams’ performance seemed suggestive, on the surface, of his potential as a coach at the highest level of competition.
However, in spite of VCU’s excellence this season, doubts about Odom’s coaching abilities may still be warranted. Odom’s positive impact was certainly felt at UMBC, Utah State and VCU, but more credence must be given to the situations he inherited, particularly with the Aggies. In short, his coaching pedigree is sparse, raising concerns about his ability to quickly rebuild Virginia into a national contender.
Odom began his Division I head coaching career at UMBC in 2016-17. In just his second season, the Retrievers upset No. 1 Virginia in the 2017-18 NCAA Tournament, becoming the first No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in tournament history. It was an obvious watershed moment for UMBC, which had made only one NCAA Tournament appearance prior to that season.
There is no doubt that Odom improved the Retrievers, who won just seven games in the season prior to his arrival. In his first year at the helm, UMBC won 21 games, a massive swing. In subsequent years, though, the Retrievers’ prospects declined. They failed to build upon the prior season’s success and missed the tournament the next year, then fell below .500 with a 16-17 record in 2019-20 — in part a result of roster turnover, as UMBC lost most of its productive players from the previous season.
Odom’s time at Utah State, beginning in 2021-22, is perhaps a more illuminating display of the favorable circumstances Odom often inherited during his career, circumstances which have contributed to his successes. Odom signed a seven-year contract with the Aggies but departed for VCU after just two years, cutting his time with Utah State short and preventing him from building the program into a long-lived contender.
The Aggies worked their way into the NCAA Tournament before Odom’s arrival, losing in the first round in 2020-21 after finishing second in the Mountain West and winning 20 games. Odom’s first season was a downturn, as Utah State went 18-16 and missed the tournament — a season later, they were back in the dance but fell to Missouri in the first round.
Overall, Odom left the Aggies without producing any particularly impressive results. Utah State did not defeat a ranked opponent in the 2022-23 season despite winning 26 games. The Aggies also lost games to SMU and Missouri, their only two Power Five opponents, with the latter coming in the first round of the tournament. Odom’s abrupt departure left Virginia with little information from his time with his first mid-tier Division I program, but Odom’s two seasons in Logan, Ut. were not especially encouraging.
As he did with Utah State, Odom spent only two years with the Rams, culminating in a successful 2024-25 season. This year’s campaign comes on the heels of a less successful 2023-24, as VCU missed the tournament and played to a 24-14 record.
Even though the 2024-25 campaign quieted some doubts about Odom’s ability to coach at the highest level, Odom still failed to find success against programs better than the Rams’ Atlantic 10 competition. Losses against Seton Hall, Nevada and New Mexico — although all three were relatively close — represented key chances for VCU to assert itself as a squad belonging amongst upper-tier competition in the NCAA Tournament. Instead, the Rams failed to capitalize on these opportunities, making it no surprise that they faltered in the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament to No. 6 seed BYU.
Despite the early exit, VCU’s success in the regular season and appearance in the tournament propelled Odom to the top of most lists projecting the Cavaliers’ next coach. Perhaps such optimism was premature. Odom’s 2024-25 may have been a successful season by traditional metrics, but based on the Rams’ performance against more competitive competition, there is little evidence to suggest that Odom is prepared to coach against the best teams in the Power Five — fostering legitimate doubt in his abilities to take on the Virginia coaching job.
Odom arrives in a tough situation in Charlottesville, at least initially — only one scholarship player remains out of the transfer portal. Odom may have a wealth of resources at his disposal, certainly more than he had at VCU, Utah State or UMBC, but he inherits a system with little continuity.
Although Odom was successful at every stop in his career, he did not achieve enough at any given program to prove that he is an ACC-caliber coach. He benefited from continuity in his rosters, often returning several starters from previous seasons, but still failed to secure signature wins and make deep playoff runs. Odom will have all the necessary tools at his disposal to rebuild the Cavaliers into a force to be reckoned with, and Virginia fans are certainly expecting him to do so sooner rather than later. They should likely temper their expectations.
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