Reports: USU MBB coach Ryan Odom leaving for VCU

LOGAN — According to reports, Utah State head basketball coach Ryan Odom will leave the school to take the head coaching position at VCU, ending his two-year tenure in Logan.

Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News, first reported that Odom has left USU and is heading back east to take over the job left by Mike Rhoades who is reportedly leaving the Rams to take the Penn State job.

Last week Jeff Goodman, a basketball analyst for Stadium, reported that Odom was “arguably the frontrunner” to become the next head coach, not at VCU, but South Florida. However, it seems Odom is looking for a better basketball situation in addition to a move back east. The Bulls have a 45-77 record over the last four seasons and haven’t made the NCAA Tournament (despite being in a multi-bid AAC) since 2011. The Rams meanwhile have been tournament mainstays out of the A-10, getting an invite to the big dance 10 times in the last 12 seasons (excluding the 2019-20 season when the tournament was cancelled).

Goodman updated his own reporting to fit the change in circumstances, saying that Odom is now the frontrunner for the VCU job.

Though Odom spent only two seasons as coach of the Aggies, he saw notable success in that short time. In his first season after taking over for Craig Smith, Utah State went 18-16 and hosted a game in the first round of the NIT. This past year, Odom’s second with USU, the team finished tied for second in the Mountain West with a 26-9 record, made it to the conference tournament championship game and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Overall, Odom ends his tenure at USU with a 44-25 (.638) record, the fifth-highest winning percentage in school history behind Craig Smith (.755), Stew Morrill (.720), Larry Eustachy (.649) and Ladell Andersen (.643). Of these top five, only two (Morrill and Anderson) stayed at Utah State for more than five seasons.

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