by Rocco Miller (@roccomiller8)
One of the most unsuspecting hires this offseason was the recent hire at Utah State and new Head Coach Ryan Odom. The pair came together in a mutually beneficial and meaningful way. For Utah State, they’ve built a winner in Logan for the past three seasons under recently departed Head Coach, Craig Smith (now at Utah). The Aggies finished each year (2019-2021) by qualifying or participating in the NCAA Tournament in each of said years (won the 2020 MWC Tournament, prior the NCAA’s being cancelled).
USU Athletic Director, John Hartwell, originally planned to leverage a search firm to find the right candidate for the program’s next head coach - but ditched the idea and went with a “lone wolf” approach, Hartwell said during yesterday’s introductory press conference. Hartwell had his own short list and prioritized Odom, without many knowing about his intentions publically.
For Coach Odom, the idea of taking the Utah State job had a lot of momentum at home. The former UMBC Head Coach recognized that he and his wife were married in the state of Utah and he also spent time there in a previous offseason with current Utah Jazz Assistant Coach and his mentor, Quinn Snyder. Odom also picked up quickly, that the USU athletic department has exceptional local support for all USU athletics. He recognized that USU was a big enough jump for him to feel like it was the right fit for him to take a program to the next level and the right fit for his blossoming coaching career path.
At UMBC, Ryan Odom was and still is adored. Many know Coach Odom as the brains behind the UMBC upset over top-seeded Virginia and the only sixteen-seed to ever beat a one-seed. What is mostly untold is the fact that he has been a consistent winner at a program that was basically running on empty before he took over. Odom has never finished below .500 in conference-play since taking over in 2016-17. Over the years, Ryan Odom has had a number of high profile job offers. Odom chose to wait for the right opportunity each time, and reinforced his commitment to UMBC. He was genuinely happy building the Retriever program.
So what was it about Utah State that finally got him to move? I joined yesterday’s press conference to dive in and learn more.
Utah State held a press conference on April 7th, 2021 to introduce Ryan Odom as new Men’s Head Basketball Coach.
Coach Odom is encouraged and enthused about a number of areas that Utah State brings to the table:
Traditionally the Mountain West is seventh to ninth best conference in America (finished a disappointing 11th in 2021)
Great athletics at Utah State
Rich basketball tradition at USU
Sold out Spectrum, Home Court advantage
Strong desire to advance in the NCAA Tournament (USU has not made it past the first round since 2001). USU has eight consecutive exits in the Round of 64 (2003, ‘05, ‘06, ‘09, ‘10, ‘11, ‘19, ‘20, ‘21
Quinn Snyder (currently with Utah Jazz) is his mentor
What type of strategy can we expect from Utah State teams going forward (in Coach Odom’s words)?
Focus on being strong both offensively and defensively from an efficiency standpoint
Balanced approach to using fouls. Do not foul a lot.
Fast style with multiple ball-handlers on the floor together.
WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT ODOM’s STYLE AT UMBC:
- The Retrievers were stellar on defense. In conference play, they had the best defensive Free Throw rate in the league (25.9% of possessions). No surprise this is a key area for Odom in yesterday’s presser. UMBC also had the best 2-point % defense in the America East, making life difficult the most frequently for opponents in the paint.
- UMBC had an all-around efficient offense, ranking third in Adjusted Offensive Efficiency during conference play and second for the entire season. Led by two great contributors, 6-3 Junior RJ Eytle-Rock and 6-10 Senior Brandon Horvath. Eytle-Rock ranked in the top 100 nationally in getting to the free throw line.
- Aggies fans should keep their eyes open. Horvath is already in the transfer portal, looking for a home for one last season. Also, Dan Akin another Senior from UMBC, recently entered the portal. Overall, USU will be doing an appraisal of sorts on the existing roster left behind to see who is still a good fit moving forward. Several changes should be on the horizon as Coach Odom looks to fill his staff.
ODOM ON ANALYTICS:
- Full-time staff member will be solely focused on Analytics.
- Odom is open to innovative approaches. Mentioned they have tried doing a few video reviews during halftimes of games, and had tablets on their bench.
- A real focus goes into the Four Factors of the game: Effective FG%, Turnover rate, Offensive Rebounding rate, and Free Throw rate.
- Getting to the three-point line, scoring at the rim and getting to the foul line are the offensive areas of focus. Constantly will be reviewed and measured against.
- Defensively: limiting fouling as mentioned before, not allowing opponents to get great looks from distance, and preventing layup opportunities were the areas mentioned at the Press Conference.
In summary, Odom and Utah State appear to be genuinely all-in. This is an exciting time and this is a great hire is my belief for the Utah State program. However, there are clear challenges that the Mountain West brings. A higher caliber of basketball and deeper commitment to success. UNLV, San Jose State and New Mexico are all committing to building successful programs, in addition to San Diego State, Colorado State and Boise State who are all coming off of strong seasons. Coach Odom and his Aggies will need to win at close to a 70% clip to stay in the at-large bid discussion each year. Unquestionably, the Aggies will enjoy their tremendous home court advantage at 4,800 feet of elevation (ranked #7 in the nation per KenPom Home Court Advantage rankings). The formula is to be near-perfect at home, schedule well, and acquire key wins away from Logan. Can Coach Odom do it? I predict he will. We’ll see.