Former Utah State, VCU Head Coach Ryan Odom Fills Vacancy At Virginia
Mar 22, 2025, 4:54 PM | Updated: 4:56 pm
DENVER, COLORADO - MARCH 20: Head coach Ryan Odom of the Virginia Commonwealth Rams reacts uring the first half against the Brigham Young Cougars in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Ball Arena on March 20, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY- Former Utah State head basketball coach Ryan Odom, who spent two seasons in Logan as Craig Smith’s, leading the Aggies to an NCAA Tournament appearance, has found a power-five home.
After two years at VCU with a record of 52-21 with the Rams, Ryan Odom has agreed to become the next head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers, one of College Basketball’s premier programs.
𝙒𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙪𝙮!
Welcome back to Charlottesville, Coach Odom!
🔶⚔️🔷#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/3r7dqqS3rq
— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) March 22, 2025
Ryan Odom At Utah State
Following Odom’s historic win at UMBC as a 16-seed over No. 1 Virginia, Ryan spent three more seasons with the Golden Retrievers before taking a job as the head coach of the Aggies in 2021, the season following Sam Merrill’s unforgettable go-ahead three-pointer in the last second of the Mountain West Championship Game against San Diego State.
In his first year in Logan, Odom went through some growing pains. He retained some returning players like Steven Ashworth, Brock Miller, and Justin Bean, but he lost Neemias Queta to the NBA Draft. The Aggies finished finishing the 2021-2022 season 18-16 overall and 8-10 in the conference, flaming out in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Tournament and missing March Madness.
However, in his second year at the helm in Logan, Odom’s squad broke out. Utah State won 26 games and went 13-5 in conference play. The Aggies made it to the Mountain West Championship game as the No. 3 seed in the tournament but fell to eventual National Runner-up San Diego State.
Regardless, Utah State earned an at-large bid and was a 9-seed in the NCAA Tournament, losing to Missouri in the opening round.
After the conclusion of the 2022-2023 season, Ryan Odom made a move out east to take over at VCU.
Ryan Odom at VCU
Ryan Odom came in to replace Mike Rhoades who moved up to take the Penn State job.
In Odom’s first year at VCU, the Rams saw success, going 19-12 in the regular season before making a run to the A10 Championship game. They would lose to Duquesne but accepted an invite to the NIT, where they would make it to the quarterfinals.
In his second year at VCU, Odom repeated almost exactly what he did in Logan, running through the A10 regular season with only three losses and then securing an automatic bid to March Madness with a conference tournament championship.
VCU drew an 11-seed and the BYU Cougars in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Rams were defeated by Kevin Young’s squad, but Odom’s recent success at both Utah State and VCU drew the attention of Virginia, who hired him following the loss.
The Situation At Virginia
The Cavaliers were stuck in a bit of a limbo this season after Tony Bennett, who spent 15 years as the head coach of Virginia, announced his retirement in October of 2024, just weeks before the regular season started.
With little time to fill the position, Virginia named Ron Sanchez, one of Bennett’s associate head coaches, as interim head coach.
With so much chance just before the season, the Cavaliers navigated a bumpy road throughout the year. Virginia finished the year below .500 for the first time since 2010 and chose not to retain Sanchez when the season ended.
Ryan Odom will be starting from square one with the Cavaliers and will be tasked with returning a program that won a National Championship as recently as 2019 to excellence.
