A homecoming for new men’s basketball coach Ryan Odom

During an interview for the men’s basketball coaching job, UVA President James E. Ryan (Law class of ’92) and Director of Athletics Carla Williams asked Ryan Odom why he wanted to come to Virginia. Odom put a pair of photographs on the table that showed himself as an elementary school kid, decked out in UVA basketball gear.

“I just put them right in front of them,” Odom said. “Why Virginia? That’s the starting point of why Virginia.”

Indeed, Odom isn’t so much an import as a repatriate as he takes over a Cavaliers team coming off its first losing season since 2009-10. The son of former Virginia assistant coach Dave Odom, the younger Odom spent seven years of his childhood in Charlottesville, riding his bicycle to University Hall to watch practices, serving as a ballboy and even posing for the cover of a brochure for head coach Terry Holland’s basketball camp—providing the visuals Odom brought to his job interview.

Of course, comfort and familiarity aren’t enough in the modern, high-stakes world of college athletics. As Williams selected a permanent replacement for Tony Bennett, who suddenly retired in October, she needed qualifications.

Odom, 50, has them in spades. He’s won everywhere he’s been, taking University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Utah State; and—this season—Virginia Commonwealth University to the NCAA Tournament. He has a career record of 222-127 as a head coach.

His biggest win to date is also Virginia’s most haunting defeat. In 2018, it was Odom’s UMBC squad that stunned UVA, becoming the first 16 seed to ever win a game in the NCAA Tournament.

But that was old news on March 24, as the school introduced Odom at an event at John Paul Jones Arena. Odom is eager to replace that defeat with even larger wins in favor of UVA.

“This is the place that I fell in love with basketball,” he told the crowd.