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UMBC's men's basketball coach, Ryan Odom, will not be heading to the same position at Virginia Tech, he told The Baltimore Sun on Saturday.
Among the information linking him to the high-level vacancy, Odom said in a text message: "Nothing to do".
Two other sources familiar with the situation confirmed that the coach would not leave after three seasons in Catonsville. The Washington Post reported initially Saturday that the Hokies had to announce Odom as a coach at 18 hours. Saturday. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Odom spoke of the opening with Whit Babcock, Virginia Tech's sports director, but no deal has been reached.
The Hokies are looking for a replacement for Buzz Williams, who left for Texas A & M on Wednesday after leading Virginia Tech to three consecutive NCAA tournaments, including one with Sweet 16 this spring. Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard also reportedly withdrew his bid for the Saturday post.
Under a new contract signed last year, Odom must earn a basic annual salary of $ 425,000 until 2023, while its purchase is increased to $ 225,000 for the duration of his contract. The sports director of UMBC, Tim Hall, who hired Odom, acknowledged to the Sun last year that Odom "wants, at some point, I think, to see if he could [coach] on a bigger stage. But he added, "I'd rather try to induce someone to stay rather than want to penalize him if he wants to leave." "
Odom, 44, has been an assistant coach of Virginia Tech with Seth Greenberg from 2003 to 2010 and is 67-36 in three seasons with the Retrievers. Last season, UMBC became the first seeded No. 16 in the history of the NCAA men's tournament to defeat a No. 1 seed, stunningly rivals Hokies, Virginia. Since leaving Lenoir-Rhyne Division II in 2016, Odom has overseen three of the four most successful seasons in the Retrievers.
In his first season, Odom orchestrated an improvement of 14 wins and received the Joe B. Hall Award, awarded to the best Division I first-year coach. In 2017-18, he received the Hugh Durham Award, presented to the Best major coach after UMBC won a school record of 25 games and won his first America East tournament championship in a decade. Despite a series of injuries this season, the Retrievers returned to the conference finals, tilting against the regular season champion, Vermont.
With the NCAA program being upset and the success of former goaltender Jairus Lyles, who became the first UMBC product to sign a contract with the NBA, Odom said last month that he was not going to win a contract with the NBA. had not recruited new recruit last year and see the approach. The Retrievers will lose their top scorer, Joe Sherburne, but they should otherwise return with nine players averaging double-digit minutes last season.
Despite an increased interest in the program, and now for him, Mr. Odom said his duties have not changed much.
"From a coaching point of view, it's not really different because you coach your team every day," he said last month. "There is certainly more to do. There is a lot more coverage. The other change is that every time we enter an arena, whether it's an important time or the lowest level, we get the best shot from the other team. This has definitely changed. The first year we could sneak up on someone because they expect us to lose. Now, they are waiting to see what they saw on March 16th. [last year against Virginia]. It's just right or not, it's like that, and it's where you want your program to be.
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