Former Utah State head coach Ryan Odom is now a VCU Ram, filling the void left by Mike Rhoades less than four hours after the latter's departure on Wednesday (March 29).
Odom formerly helmed UMBC, which beat UVA by 20 points as a 16-seed in 2018 in the first-ever instance of the lowest possible seed beating a top-seeded team in the NCAA men's tournament.
“We welcome Ryan Odom as our next basketball coach with great excitement about our future,” VCU Vice President and Director of Athletics Ed McLaughlin said in a Wednesday statement. “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 began as an administrative assistant at South Florida in 1997, and that position was followed by -- among others -- stints as an assistant coach at Virginia Tech, interim head coach at Charlotte and head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.).
VCU sat at 27-8 after the 2022-23 season, while Odom's Aggies recorded a win-loss tally of 26-9.
“[My wife] Lucia and I could not be more excited about joining the VCU and greater Richmond communities," Odom said in the statement. "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. [...] We cannot wait to join this tremendous community and begin to work to enhance this incredible program.”
Rhoades' departure comes after he led the Rams to the regular-season conference championship in the Atlantic 10, as well as the A-10 tournament title and a berth in the NCAA tournament. VCU lost to St. Mary's in the first round.
VCU players Jamir Watkins, Jalen DeLoach and Nick Kern Jr. all entered the transfer portal on Thursday (March 30).