Odom coached UMBC in the Retrievers’ historic March Madness upset of Virginia in 2018
Seven years ago, Ryan Odom’s team beat Virginia in a historic March Madness upset. Now, Odom will be coaching the Cavaliers.
Virginia has hired the VCU coach as its next head coach, officially announcing the move on Saturday. Odom was the coach at UMBC in 2018 when his Retrievers beat Virginia, 74-54, in the first round of the NCAA tournament. It was the first time a No. 16 seed had ever taken down a No. 1 seed since the tournament had expanded to 64 teams.
Odom stayed at UMBC for three more seasons before going to Utah State. The Aggies made the NCAA tournament in 2023 with a 26-9 record before he left to become the coach at VCU. The Rams won the Atlantic 10 in 2024-25 and were a No. 11 seed in the 2025 NCAA tournament before losing to No. 6 BYU in the first round.