Sources: VCU’s Odom becomes leading UVA target

• Jeff Borzello Close Jeff Borzello ESPN Staff Author Basketball recruiting insider. Joined ESPN in 2014. Graduate of University of Delaware.Mar 21, 2025, 05:10 PM ET VCU coach Ryan Odom has actually emerged as the target for the Virginia job, and a deal is anticipated to come

together in the upcoming days, sources informed ESPN.VCU’s season ended on Thursday with an 80-71 loss to BYU in the preliminary of the NCAA tournament.Odom has actually guided 3 various programs to the NCAA competition, most significantly leading 16-seed UMBC to an unprecedented win over 1-seed Virginia in the first round of the 2018 tournament.After 5 seasons

and one NCAA competition look at UMBC, Odom spent 2 seasons at Utah State, leading the Aggies to the tournament in 2023 before going back across the country to change

Mike Rhoades at VCU.In 2 seasons with the Rams, he went 52-21 general and 26-10 in conference play. They won the Atlantic 10 regular-season and conference competition champions this season, winning 18 of their final 20 games en route to an 11-seed in the NCAA competition, where they lost to 6-seed BYU on Thursday.Odom is a Durham, N.C. native who has ACC experience from his seven seasons as an assistant coach at Virginia Tech under Seth Greenberg. His daddy is Dave Odom, the previous South Carolina, Wake Forest and East Carolina head coach.Odom replaced Tony Bennett, who abruptly retired back in October.

Bennett was set to begin his 16th season with the Cavaliers when he stepped down, pointing to the”existing environment”in college sports as one of the driving forces behind his sudden decision. Throughout his time in Charlottesville, he earned two

nationwide coach of the year awards and led Virginia to the national championship in 2019. The Cavaliers won six ACC regular-season titles and made 10 NCAA tournament appearances with Bennett at the helm.Associate head coach Ron Sanchez served as Virginia’s interim head coach for the 2024-25 season, with the Cavaliers finishing 15-17 and missing the postseason. Athletic director Carla Williams announced shortly after their loss to Georgia Tech in the ACC competition that Sanchez would not be maintained as the full-time head coach.VCU looms as maybe the best basketball job outside the power

conferences, as it predicts to have, without a doubt, the most money for NIL and income share in the Atlantic 10. Athletic director Ed McLaughlin will be making his fourth hire at the school. The first three all reached the NCAA tournament and went on to larger tasks– Will Wade(LSU), Mike Rhoades( Penn State)and Odom (UVA). Considering that reaching the last 4 under Shaka

Smart in 2011, VCU has actually missed just 3 NCAA tournaments.