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According to this story in the Washington Post (you need to register for it, I believe, but it's painless) the new basketball coach at Virginia will be ...
Dave Odom?
The Post is reporting that UVA AD Craig Littlepage has offered the job to Odom and that Odom is likely to accept.
Look, I think Odom is a good basketball coach and he certainly has respect in the profession. He's also got strong ties to UVA, having served as Terry Holland's top assistant back in the day. But that was a long time ago, before Jeff Jones and before Pete Gillen.
Odom is in his 60s now and won't exactly provide the big PR boost folks were expecting UVA to make with its new arena on the horizon. He's done a solid job at South Carolina, but again, nothing worthy of national headlines. The same was true at Wake Forest - post Tim Duncan, of course.
It's also true that high-profile guys like Tubby Smith, Mike Brey and Rick Barnes had already given the Cavs the cold shoulder. So maybe Littlepage felt it was time to follow a safer course and hire a proven ACC coach who would be likely to say yes if asked.
Still, I've got to imagine the UVA fan base is less than overwhelmed buy the choice.
Comments (6)
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I agree with you - I had heard Odom's name mentioned early, but felt sure they'd go with a younger guy. Maybe the AD was scared off by the struggles of younger coaches like Doherty.
Posted on April 4, 2005 3:46 PM
Odom obviously wasn't the first choice -- don't forget Beilein, too -- and I'm sure he's fine with that. But, I don't think it's a great situation for him -- unless he's feeling unloved in Columbia, as he once was in Winston-Salem, and has decided it's time to move on with his NIT title in hand -- and I think it's a short-sighted hire by Virginia.
Odom is 62, if I'm not mistaken. He'll be around for 4, 5 years, tops. It'll be a lot like Bill Guthridge, but without the talent in place. So Odom won't be going to the Final Four, and he'll have a really tough time bringing in talent. Other schools will recruit against him as a short-timer. Another question is, Who's he keeping the seat warm for? I've heard Dennis Wolff's name mentioned (former Jeff Jones assistant now at BU).
There are few coaches who could win at Virginia right now, even with the new arena. As long as K and Roy are in the league -- and Gary Williams and Hewitt, for that matter -- the Cavs' ACC membership hurts more than it helps. Especially after Casteen and Gov. Mark Warner forced Va. Tech into the club.
Posted on April 4, 2005 5:50 PM
Well, David Teel of the Daily Press (Newport News, Va) says the Odom talk has created a firestorm (not quite the word he used) in Cavalierland. Odom would not be well received, in other words. On the other hand, the Washington Post's report that he's been offered (according to unnamed sources) is being widely refuted, though he is a candidate. We'll know soon enough.
Posted on April 4, 2005 7:35 PM
Looks like UVa and Odom are in full backpedal mode (or in full denial mode or in full get-the-facts-straight mode, depending on whether you think the initial story was accurate.)
The Richmond paper is reporting today that there have been no talks between the parties. So there.
In the same story, at the bottom, the RTD did throw out a new name: Dave Leitao, the DePaul coach who was once an asst under UConn's Jim Calhoun.
Posted on April 5, 2005 1:04 PM
Is Bobby Lutz being considered at all? If Odom was to leave South Carolina, do you Bobby Cremmins might throw his hat back in the ring?
Posted on April 5, 2005 1:26 PM
It looks like Leitao may be the frontrunner now. It seems there still making a play for Tubby Smith, and Odom is a possible fall-back guy. Leitao played for Calhoun at Northeastern, and was the Associate Head Coach at UConn before going to DePaul.
Posted on April 6, 2005 2:58 PM