What We Learned From Ryan Odom's Introductory Press Conference

Matt Newton | Mar 24, 2025

Virginia Athletics

Ryan Odom was formally introduced as the head coach of the Virginia men's basketball program on Monday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena. Odom and UVA director of athletics Carla Williams took turns at the podium addressing the media, current Virginia players, other UVA coaches, staff, and administrative personnel, and a gathering of fans who attended the public event. Williams and Odom also spoke with the media briefly after the press conference to answer a few more questions. Virginia Cavaliers On SI was on the scene at JPJ, so let's break down what we learned from Ryan Odom's introductory press conference.

While neither Odom nor Williams went into much detail about the discussions that took place leading up to the hiring, both explained why this was the right move for all parties involved. Odom spent most of his speech and most of the QnA that followed talking about his childhood in Charlottesville in the 1980s when his father served on Terry Holland's staff at UVA and the deep connection he feels to the University of Virginia, even saying "this is place that I fell in love with basketball." After the press conference, Odom was asked about VCU's efforts to try to retain him with a counteroffer. This was his response:

"This opportunity had nothing to do with money. This is a place [where] I grew up. Obviously, you have the ACC, the opportunity to try to compete for a national championship is something that certainly excites me. But at the same time, VCU is a special place too. It's really cool that we have, in this close proximity, two great programs... I was not leaving for other places; this was the place for me to leave for."

The first and last sentences are particularly telling. Odom is saying that the financial appeal of a major conference job had no bearing on this career move while also indicating that Virginia was the only school for which he'd be willing to leave VCU.

For Carla Williams and UVA's search committee, which included deputy athletics director Wally Walker, associate director of athletics for development Barry Parkhill, and chief operating officer Steve Pritzker, Odom became the top choice due to a combination of factors. His previous ties to and love for the University of Virginia was helpful, but Odom's coaching acumen and pedigree separated himself from the other candidates. Williams and the committee were particularly compelled by Odom's ability to navigate the transfer portal and quickly construct winning rosters at Utah State and VCU, leading those two programs to NCAA Tournament appearances by year 2.

"[Ryan Odom] is a pheonemal coach, he has won at every level" Williams said. "And he's done it at different places in different circumstances. And we know that he loves the University of Virginia, so that made it easy."

Ultimately, Williams felt that Odom's ability to be "adaptable" in this hectic era of collegiate athletics qualified him for this important undertaking.

"As the search came to a conclusion, there was one deeply rooted value remaining to address," Williams said. "Who can we entrust with the legacy of this program that has been shaped by the blood, sweat, and tears of so many who made this one of the nation's premier men's basketball programs? Who could we entrust with that legacy? Who could we trust with Virginia men's basketball?"

So, Virginia wanted Odom and Odom wanted Virginia. But what about plans for the immediate future of the program? Who from the current roster will stay at UVA and what will Odom's staff look like? There weren't many specifics, but we did get some bread crumbs of information.

The entire current Virginia roster was in attendance in the front couple of rows, including the players who have entered their names into the transfer portal. At the start of Odom's remarks, he told the team to stand up and everyone gave them a round of applause. Odom acknowledged the difficult situation that the team endured this season and said, "To be able to watch them grow over the course of the season and do their absolute best every day and stand up for one another every single day was really impressive for me to watch."

Odom met with the team for the first time over the weekend and has plans to meet with each player individually regarding their futures with the program. His main message to the team through this process was to "be themselves."

"I'm really proud of these guys and excited to begin to meet with them over the next week and it's not something that we want to rush," Odom said. "One thing that I told these guys is there's no judgment. There's no judgment if you put your name in the portal. That's okay. Because I made this decision, because this situation is what it is, they have to figure out what's best for them. We have to figure out... what's best for UVA and this program going forward."

Odom was asked about his recruiting philosophy and his answer indicated a preference for recruiting and developing high school players and using the transfer portal to fill gaps, but he also suggested that sometimes more transfer activity is required especially when starting new at a program as he is preparing to do for a third time in the last five years.

"I think you have to have a healthy balance. Our recipe at VCU was get the best high school players that you could possibly get - whether they're coming straight from high school, prep school, didn't matter - find the best players that fit your university and fit your style of play," Odom said. "Then you fill in with the transfer portal. Some years it's going to be a big change. It just is what it is. There's going to be more guys from the portal and one-year guys are great sometimes and I've been so fortunate with one-year guys."

Odom also emphasized the importance of retention. With six players from the current roster already in the portal after the first day of the transfer window, Odom seemed to indicate a goal of getting at least some of those players to withdraw from the portal and return to Virginia.

"Retain your players. There's nothing more important than retention because they understand the culture," Odom said. "That's why I'm so excited about these guys right here because I know they've been taught the right way. This culture here is strong. So retention. We would not have been able to do what we did at VCU or at Utah State if we weren't able to retain our players."

Odom did not go into much detail about his coaching staff, but confirmed that his staff at VCU will be joining him at Virginia.

"I'm so thankful that my staff's going to be able to join us here and excited about new members as well that we'll continue to announce at some point," said Odom.

It was reported on Sunday that Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich, a college teammate of Odom's at Hampden-Sydney who was also on Odom's staff at UMBC for a couple of years, will be reuniting with Odom as the associate head coach at Virginia.

"I always felt that my time with Griff was cut short at UMBC. He left after two years and went on to become the head coach at Longwood," Odom said of Aldrich. "It's well documented the success that he had there -- two NCAA Tournaments, graduates, the way that he ran his program. So proud of him. So now there was no question that, if I was able, if this door was opened for me, that I was going to ask him to come."

Odom was also asked if Virginia was going to follow the recent trend in college athletics of hiring a general manager to help with roster construction. He answered that it would be a team effort, but that he would be hiring a general manager. Carla Williams later said that Virginia would be finalizing Odom's complete staff later this week.

When asked about his basketball philosophy and style of play, Odom answered, "It's been different at different places," and described how his teams at different schools have played different styles even going back to his playing career at Hampden-Sydney.

"It's been well documented I love offense, right? I love offense. We played fast. We played fast at Hampden-Sydney," said Odom, providing quite the strong deviation for a program built on defense and slow tempo for the last decade and a half.

Odom may love offense, but he also said that "you've got to defend in order to win championships." VCU ranked 25th in the country in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency metric this season, so it's safe to say defense will still be important for this program moving forward.

Speaking of Bennett, Odom spoke with great respect for his predecessor and the sizable shoes he is looking to fill.

"I feel very prepared to take on what everyone knows is a daunting task, following Coach Bennett, following a legend. I'll be honest. I'm at peace with that. I'm not afraid of it. I wouldn't be standing here if I was afraid of it. I'm excited about it, and I'm going to need him, quite honestly," Odom said, before sharing that he had the opportunity to talk with Bennett over the phone recently.

"But I'm not afraid of the pressure. I'm not afraid of that," Odom said. "As a coach and a competitor, that's where you want to be. You want to be right in it. You want to be able to stand toe to toe with whoever you're going against and do your best. And there's no question that we're going to do that here."

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