Just hours after losing to BYU, Virginia Commonwealth University could be losing its head coach, Ryan Odom, to the Virginia Cavaliers. The Rams fell to BYU in the opening round of the 2025 NCAA March Madness tournament, 80-71. Now, many are wondering what is to come of the VCU head coach.
Odom has risen across the college basketball world in the head coaching ranks. In his two years at VCU, Odom has finished with an overall record of 52 wins and just 21 losses. He also had an excellent conference record, sitting at 26 wins and only 10 losses. Now, Virginia could be looking into Odom as their next head coach.
Who Is Ryan Odom?
According to sources, Odom has emerged as Virginia’s “top target,” and a deal is expected in the coming days. This news comes mere hours after VCU failed to advance past the first round of the 2025 NCAA March Madness tournament. However, he is still one of college basketball’s elite coaches.
NEWS: VCU coach Ryan Odom has emerged as the target for the Virginia job, and a deal is expected to come together in the upcoming days, sources tell me and @jeffborzello. He’s led VCU, Utah State and UMBC to the NCAA tournament in his career. pic.twitter.com/06yf7TW3pn
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 21, 2025
This is the fourth team that Odom has taken to the NCAA March Madness tournament. The first came back in 2017-18 with UMBC. UMBC went on a magical run that saw them wind up in the Round of 32. Odom also returned to the NCAA March Madness tournament with Utah State in 2022-23, where they were also eliminated in the first round.
“When asked about links to other jobs in postgame press conference today, VCU coach Ryan Odom said thank you, but he will not address reports right now. Stuck to questions about the game,” Joachim posted on X.
Odom began his coaching career with South Florida as a graduate assistant. From there, he became an assistant for more teams, such as Furman, UNC Asheville, American, Virginia Tech, and Charlotte, before becoming an interim head coach for Charlotte in the 2014-15 season.
Odom made his first March Madness appearance with Lenoir-Rhyne in 2015-16, making it all the way to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16. It wasn’t until 2017-18 that Odom would reach the NCAA Division I March Madness Tournament, making it to the Round of 32 as ultimate underdogs.
It was in the 2017-18 tournament that Odom etched his name in the history books. UMBC, ranked No. 16, defeated the No. 1 ranked Virginia Cavaliers, 74-54, in the first round of the tournament. This was the first time in history this feat was accomplished.
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Odom returned to the NCAA Division I March Madness tournament in 2022-23 with Utah State but didn’t last long, being bounced in the first round. Now, Odom is looked at to be the next head coach from the team he made history against back in 2017-18, the Virginia Cavaliers.
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