7 years after the stunner, Ryan Odom’s story comes ‘full circle’ as UVA’s coach

October 30, 2025
Ryan Odom and Lucia Odom waving to the crowd from the field of Scott Stadium

Ryan Odom, alongside his wife, Lucia, acknowledges the Scott Stadium crowd during a break in UVA’s football game against Florida State on Sept. 26. Odom makes his Cavalier men’s basketball coaching debut Monday, seven years after leading UMBC to a historic upset of the Wahoos. (Photo by Olivia McLucas, Virginia Athletics)

For two hours in Charlotte’s Spectrum Center, Owen Odom held his handmade lucky sign and all but shouted himself hoarse. Now it was time for the 11-year-old to go celebrate the biggest win in his father’s coaching career.

After initial denial – “They wouldn’t let me hop the fence,” he said – Odom finally slipped past the security guards and sprinted to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County men’s basketball team’s jubilant locker room, where the 16th-seeded Retrievers were dousing each other with water in recognition of their stunning NCAA Tournament victory over the top-seeded University of Virginia.

Seven years later, and as a freshman walk-on player for UVA, he recalls the night with a smile – while recognizing the irony.

Candid of Ryan Odom coaching at a UMBC game

Ryan Odom, left, shouts instructions during UMBC’s win over UVA in 2018, while Owen Odom, right, holds his lucky sign in support of his father. (UMBC photo; contributed photo)

“I was cheering my heart out against this team,” Odom said, “and now, I’m a part of this team. It’s crazy. We’ve definitely come full circle.”

A new chapter in the UVA-UMBC story begins Monday when Owen’s dad, Ryan, coaches his first game – a 7 p.m. matchup against Rider University at John Paul Jones Arena – for the Cavaliers.

You’ve likely consumed all that’s been documented about the Wahoos and Retrievers to this point. On March 16, 2018, with Owen sitting across from the team’s bench and waving a “UMBC – Ultimate Men’s Basketball Champs” sign, Ryan Odom led the historic upset. A season later, the Hoos used the epic loss as their motivation in a thrilling run to a national championship.

Which brings us to now: Odom, after subsequent stops at Utah State and Virginia Commonwealth University, calls Charlottesville home and is tasked with continuing a winning tradition last ushered by Tony Bennett, the man to whom he once delivered a notable defeat.

Full circle, indeed.

“It’s not something I would have ever imagined would happen,” Odom said. “It’s a crazy story.”

Consider Joe Sherburne among those with an informed sense of what could be written next. The former UMBC basketball player – he started and scored 14 points against UVA – has long closely followed two men’s college basketball teams: his alma mater and wherever Odom’s coaching.

“Two days ago,” Sherburne said in mid-October, “I was on my ESPN app, and I saw that VCU was still marked as a ‘favorite,’ and I removed them and added Virginia.”

While it’s not lost on Sherburne that a former Retriever might now root for the Hoos – the Milwaukee resident still relishes his random run-ins with UVA fans, including an alumnus who was part of his local men’s league team last winter – he’s comfortable acknowledging the Cavaliers are on the brink of another great era.

Thanks, It's vintage, Shop
Thanks, It's vintage, Shop

Odom’s biggest challenge in year No. 1 at UVA, a program coming off a 15-17 season, is blending a mix of 12 new players. Sherburne has little doubt Odom can conquer it. Sherburne was a sophomore in 2016-17, Odom’s first season at UMBC, when the Retrievers won 14 more games than the year before. And in year No. 2, they were NCAA Tournament darlings.

“All I know about him is he can take a team that’s either good or bad and make them better,” said Sherburne, who noted Odom also guided both Utah State and VCU to the Big Dance. “And I have no reason to believe that won’t be the case at Virginia.”

Brandon Horvath, another player on that 2018 UMBC team, has tangible proof of being a converted Wahoo. During a summer visit to see Odom and other familiar faces on the UVA staff, Horvath walked away with a box of orange-and-blue apparel.

Ryan Odom with Joe Sherburne and his family during his graduation from UMBC

Odom, far right, celebrates Joe Sherburne’s graduation from UMBC. Sherburne, a former Retriever basketball player, is optimistic that Odom will continue to have great success as UVA’s coach. (Contributed photo)

“Odom is a huge gear guy,” Horvath said. “He’s all about the gear. So, he gave me, I don’t know, 10 to 20 shirts. I got some for my wife, everybody. I got Virginia gear with me in my closet right now in Lithuania.”

Horvath, who’s playing professionally in Europe, isn’t just supporting a former coach. He’s supporting a friend. Horvath’s wedding in June served as a mini-UMBC reunion, with Odom in attendance and Bryce Crawford, an Odom aide since the UMBC days and now a UVA assistant coach, serving as the officiant.

“It’s much more than basketball with Odom,” Horvath said. “It’s almost like family. He’s been with me since I was 18 years old, and I’ve become so close with him and his staff. He’s helped mold me into the person I am today. I can’t thank him enough.”

Odom, by all accounts, is the same person today as he was seven years ago when he emerged on the national scene, thanks to that result in Charlotte. The hair’s grayer, but the head’s never grown.

Ryan Odom along the sideline at a UVA men’s basketball game

Odom observes play from the UVA bench during the Cavaliers’ exhibition win over Villanova University on Oct. 24 at John Paul Jones Arena. (Photo by Olivia McLucas, Virginia Athletics)

“I think, very easily, that stuff can get to you, ego-wise,” Crawford said. “But he’s such a normal, regular person that he doesn’t think too much of himself. That’s why he’s so good.”

At least publicly, Odom has rarely mentioned the UVA win – or loss, depending on perspective – since being employed by the University. (He's long admired the resolve of Bennett and the 2018-19 team.) Even in private settings, Owen said, it’s only referenced in good fun.

A recent team visit to the Odom family’s basement – including trainer Ethan Saliba and strength and conditioning coach Mike Curtis, a pair of holdovers from Bennett’s staff – involved an encounter with a framed magazine cover commemorating UMBC’s 2018 achievement.

“You guys have probably never seen this picture,” Owen recalled his father telling Saliba and Curtis. “And they were like, ‘Oh, get it away!’ and started laughing. It was pretty funny.”

Just another anecdote in the ongoing UVA-UMBC story.

“The next chapter,” Horvath said, “is going to be about Odom taking Virginia to the promised land. It’s going to be really cool.”

Media Contacts

Erich Bacher

Associate Athletics Director for Athletic Communications

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