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With the
2004 SEC Coach of the Year award under his belt,
Dave Odom enters his 29th year as a collegiate
coach and his 19th year as a head coach. Beginning
his fourth season at the helm of the Gamecock
basketball program in 2004-05, USC was the surprise
team of the SEC last year. Picked to finish last
in the SEC, the Gamecocks made it the semi-finals
of the SEC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA
Tournament. Odom will expect no less of his bunch
this season as they return a talented and experienced
group of returnees and a stellar recruiting class
to help continue to put Gamecock basketball back
on the national map.
Odom is 57-42 in his three seasons at Carolina.
Last year he joined Cliff Ellis (Auburn and Clemson)
as the only two head coaches to receive the nod
for conference coach of the year in both the SEC
and ACC. In addition to the SEC Coach of the Year
award in 2004, Odom was the ACC Coach of the Year
three times at Wake Forest; he also received National
Coach of the Year honors in 1995.
Exuding constant energy on the sidelines and in
practice, Odom continues to support his players'
progress when their eligibility is over. The summer
of 2003 Odom saw two of his former prize pupils,
Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs) and Rodney Rogers
(New Jersey Nets) square off against each other
in the NBA Finals. Duncan was also named the NBA's
Most Valuable Player for the second straight season
in 2003.
Last year's senior class saw Boynton, Ivan Howell
and Sheldon Everett graduate. Two others seniors
continue to work on their degrees with Rolando
Howell needing to complete only a required internship
for graduation and Kerbrell Brown continuing work
on his degree. Odom-coached professional players
overseas include: Kerbrell Brown (Iceland), Aaron
Lucas (Israel), Jamel Bradley (Lithuania), Marius
Petravicius (Lithuania), Tony Kitchings (Germany)
and Rolando Howell (Italy). Bradley, Lucas, Petravicius
and Chris Warren have all graduated.
In 2003-04, USC started off the season with eight
straight wins and won 12 games before the New
Year - a Gamecock first in basketball. The Gamecock
basketball team took the pre-season prediction
of last place to heart and believed they would
`find a way' in 2004. USC went 8-8 in the SEC
and advanced to the SEC Tournament semi-final
falling to eventual champion Kentucky. USC won
the Guardians Classic, had a player on the All-SEC
team (Carlos Powell), a player on the SEC All-Freshman
team (Renaldo Balkman) and a player on the SEC
All-Tournament team (Mike Boynton, Jr.) -- all
firsts in one season for Odom.
Averaging over 17,000 fans for its SEC homestand
in the second year of the Colonial Center, USC's
state-of-the-art facility, the Gamecocks were
road warriors as well, defeating the likes of
Southwest Missouri State, Richmond, Clemson, Auburn,
Georgia and Vanderbilt on the road. Mike Boynton,
Jr., the senior captain, led the team on and off
the court. He finished his career with 125 games
played, shattering the school record. He was also
named the SEC Community Service Male Student-Athlete
of the Year, receiving a $5000 post-graduate scholarship
for his work with Team Gamecocks.
In 2002-03, undefeated in their new home in non-conference
play, the Gamecocks fell on harder times in SEC
play, finishing the year with a 12-16 overall
record. The team, which battled the injury bug
all season throughout the line-up, saw the inaugural
season at The Carolina Center average nearly 13,000
fans per home game.
Chuck Eidson broke the school record for steals
with 271 in his career and steals averaged per
game at 2.42 as he finished No. 3 on the all-time
SEC list. Tony Kitchings finished his career at
No. 6 in shots blocked (123), leading the Gamecocks
four straight years. He played in 121 career games,
which is No. 6 on USC's all-time list.
In 2001-02, Odom helped generate fervor for basketball
in Columbia as he led the Gamecocks to their best
postseason showing ever ... a berth in the National
Invitation Tournament championship game in New
York's Madison Square Garden. Along the way, the
17-year coaching veteran led the Gamecocks to
a 22-15 record, the most wins ever for a first-year
Gamecock head coach. He coached the Gamecocks
to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament -- USC's
fourth appearance in the SEC Tournament semis
in the last six years, an SEC best -- and combined
with a 4-1 record in the NIT, Carolina ended the
year with a 6-2 record in postseason action.
The 2001-02 Gamecocks not only finished strong,
they started strong, winning more games (10) than
any other Carolina team prior to January - a feat
topped only by his 2003-04 squad which won 12
games prior to January 1. Odom revived a strong
interest in Carolina basketball that hit a crescendo
in USC's two NIT home games. More than 11,000
fans scooped up tickets in less than 36 hours
for the Ball State home season finale, a game
Carolina won 82-47 in the final regular-season
contest ever at the Frank McGuire Arena.
To cap it off, Odom's last victory in 2002 (NIT
semifinals win over Syracuse) was the 300th of
his coaching career, the third highest career
victory total in the SEC.
Including his tenures at South Carolina, Wake
Forest and East Carolina, Odom's career head coaching
record is an impressive 335-216. He achieved his
200th overall career win on February 12, 1997,
in a 55-49 Wake Forest victory over Clemson, and
win No. 300 over Syracuse in the 2002 NIT semifinals.
Odom spent the summer of 1999 as an assistant
coach on the 1999 USA Basketball Junior World
Championship team. That team competed in Portugal
in July and captured the silver medal at the FIBA
Men's Junior World Champion-ships.
Odom, who led Wake Forest to 11 consecutive national
postseason tournament appearances and built that
program into a national contender while averaging
20 victories per year during his tenure there,
was introduced to an overflow crowd of media and
fans at an April 10, 2001 news conference at the
USC Basketball Practice Facility.
Odom was a three-time Atlantic Coast Conference
Coach of the Year and earned National Coach of
the Year honors in 1995. He led Wake Forest to
two ACC championships and three Top 10 national
finishes. His Demon Deacon teams appeared in seven
straight NCAA Tournaments from 1991-97, including
an Elite Eight showing in 1996 by advancing to
the Regional Finals. His youthful 2000 Wake Forest
squad caught fire at the end of the season to
claim the National Invitation Tournament championship,
and his 2001 squad was Odom's eighth NCAA Tournament
team at Wake Forest. His last 11 Deacon teams
advanced to postseason play and combined with
the 2002 NIT showing by the Gamecocks, he led
his last 12 squads overall to the postseason.
Upon his arrival in Winston-Salem as head coach
in 1989, Odom inherited a program that had suffered
four straight losing seasons. However, he turned
things around and has made school history by winning
more games during his 12 years at Wake Forest
than any other coach over a similar period of
time, compiling a 240-132 record during his time
at the school.
Under his direction, Wake Forest emerged as one
of the elite programs in the country, becoming
a force at both the conference and national levels
on a yearly basis. Odom's 101 wins in ACC play
are the most ever by a Deacon coach. His overall
winning percentage (64.5%) was the best at the
school in nearly a century, and he can claim .500
or better marks in ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament
competition as well.
Odom was named ACC Coach of the Year three times.
Three times he has been chosen district coach
of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association
and twice he has been a National Association of
Basketball Coaches award-winner on the district
level, as well. The Touchdown Club of Columbus
(Ohio) also named him its 1995 national coach-of-the-year
after conducting a poll of head coaches across
the country.
In 12 seasons with the Demon Deacons, Odom compiled
an impressive 240-132 record. He left Wake Forest
with the eighth highest victory total in ACC history
and the second-most victories in Wake Forest history.
Since his only losing record at Wake Forest in
1990, Odom's teams won more than two-thirds of
their games, recording 228 victories (20.7 per
year) the last 11 campaigns. In addition to the
back-to-back ACC titles in 1995 and 1996, Wake
spent 10 weeks as the nation's No. 2-ranked team
in 1997 --the school's highest ranking ever.
In 1995, 1996 and 1997, Wake Forest finished as
one of the Top 10 teams in the country, claiming
the No. 3 spot in 1995, and the No. 9 position
in both the 1996 and 1997 final polls. The 26-6
records of `95 and `96 were the best in school
history, as well.
Odom has also coached three players who have earned
All-America honors, including 1997 consensus national
player of the year Tim Duncan (1996, 1997), guard
Randolph Childress (1996), and forward Rodney
Rogers (1993). Duncan was also a two-time ACC
Player of the Year, an award also won by Rogers
while in a Wake uniform. Rogers and Robert O'Kelley
both earned ACC Rookie of the Year honors, too
(Rogers in 1993; O'Kelley in 1998).
Odom became the 18th head basketball coach in
Wake Forest history on April 8th, 1989. Odom,
a native of Goldsboro in eastern North Carolina,
began his athletic career as a three-sport standout
who served as captain of his football, basketball,
and baseball squads as a senior at Goldsboro High.
He took his talents and love of athletics to Guilford
College in the early 1960s. There he was quarterback
on the football team for three years, as well
as playing on the basketball squad for all four
years.
As a senior, Odom was named the captain of the
basketball team, and that same year (1965), was
honored as the school's most outstanding athlete.
Eighteen years later (1983), Guilford College
inducted him into its Hall of Fame. In 1991, he
received similar recognition from his hometown
by being accepted into the Goldsboro High School
Hall of Fame as well.
Following his graduation from Guilford, Odom began
his coaching career at his former school, Goldsboro
High, while at the same time working toward a
graduate degree in physical education at East
Carolina University. He received his master's
in 1969, and in the fall of that year accepted
the head coaching position at Durham High School.
After a successful tenure at Durham High (he was
five times named his league's Coach of the Year),
Odom made his debut on the collegiate coaching
scene at Wake Forest, serving as an assistant
coach under Carl Tacy for three seasons (1977-1979).
The Deacs were 53-33 during that time, including
a 22-8 campaign in 1976-77 when they advanced
to the NCAA Midwest Region finals, matching the
school's farthest progress in postseason play
in the past 35 years.
After a three-year stint as head coach at East
Carolina (1980-82), Odom made the decision to
return to the ACC as an assistant coach. He joined
Terry Holland at Virginia and helped lead the
Cavaliers through their most successful period
ever. Virginia compiled a 142-83 (63.1 winning
percentage) overall record during the seven years
that Odom was involved in its program and made
postseason appearances every year except 1988.
Five of those seasons, the Cavaliers were among
the NCAA championship field, including a trip
to the Final Four in 1984.
Odom left Holland's staff in the spring of 1989
when he returned to Winston-Salem. That move marked
only the second time in ACC history that an assistant
at one school had become head coach at another
(Vic Bubas had been the first, going from NC State
to Duke in 1959).
Odom and his wife, Lynn, have two sons -- Lane
and Ryan, who is a member of the staff at Virginia
Tech University.
Odom serves on the National Association of Basketball
Coaches board of directors.
DAVE ODOM QUICK FACTS
FULL NAME: G. David Odom
BIRTHDATE: Oct. 9, 1942
WIFE: Lynn
SONS: Lane Odom, Ryan Odom (assistant coach at
Virginia Tech)
EDUCATION
Graduate: East Carolina (M.Ed., 1969)
Undergraduate: Guilford College (B.A., 1965)
High School: Goldsboro High School
HIGH SCHOOL COACHING EXPERIENCE
Goldsboro High School (4 years): head coach, 1965-69
Durham High School (7 years): head coach, 1969-76
COLLEGE COACHING EXPERIENCE
Wake Forest (3 years): assistant coach, 1976-79
East Carolina (3 years): head coach, 1979-82
Virginia (7 years): assistant coach, 1982-89
Wake Forest (12 years): head coach, 1989-2001
South Carolina (3 years): head coach, 2001-present
COACHING HONORS
Won the NIT Tournament in 2005
SEC Coach of the Year: 2004
ACC Coach of the Year: 1991, 1994, 1995
District Coach of the Year: 1991, 1993, 1994
National Coach of the Year: 1995
A CLOSER LOOK AT DAVE ODOM
What did you want to be when you were
little: I always wanted to be a coach but I also
thought about being a race car driver or being
in the FBI
The best basketball
player I ever coached against: Michael
Jordan
The best advice I was
ever given: Be true to yourself and what
you believe so that you can be true to others
and what they believe
If I could
change one thing about college basketball:
I would changed the outside influences on players
Since I've come to Carolina,
I've learned: The passion for the Gamecocks
is alive and real
People would
be surprised to know this about me: How
little I've changed over the course of time
I would like to have witnessed this
sporting event in person: The 1980 Winter
Olympics -USA Hockey's win over Russia and then
its gold medal win -what an extraordinary event
Favorite athletes:
Johnny Unitas, Tommy Kearns, Nellie Fox
Most prized possession: My family
If I were an animal, I would
be: Brooks - the world's greatest big
dog (my dog)
If my team could
play in any arena this year, it would be: The
Edwards Dome in St. Louis (site of the Final Four)
Favorite soda: Don't
drink soda - favorite drink is cranberry and apple
juice mixed
Last great book
I read: The Purpose Driven Life
My parents were right when they said:
You'll never be successful unless you earn it
I wore No. 11, because it always seemed to fit
me.
If I had to cook all my
own food, I would live on: Pasta
Dave Odom Coaching Highlights
Dave Odom leds USC to become the 2005 NIT Champions
with their 60-57 win over St. Joe's. Coach Odom
was named the SEC Coach of the Year in 2004. He
and former Auburn and Clemson head coach Cliff
Ellis are the only two in SEC and ACC history
to be named Coach of the Year in both of the powerful
conferences during their careers.
In 2004, Coach Odom led USC to the NCAA Tournament
- his ninth visit as a head coach and his 15th
visit overall. The Gamecocks, who lost in the
SEC semi-finals to eventual winner Kentucky, fell
59-43 to Memphis in the first round of the NCAA
Tournament. USC won the season-opening Guardians
Classic with a 67-61 win over Richmond, as Tarence
Kinsey was named the MVP.
€ Led the
Gamecocks to 12 victories prior to January, 2004,
the most wins by a Carolina team ever prior to
January.
Coach Odom saw a player on the All-SEC team in
Carlos Powell, a player on the SEC All-Freshman
team in Renaldo Balkman and a player on the SEC
Tournament team in Mike Boynton, Jr. - these three
all in one year were a first for Odom. In its
second year of the Colonial Center, USC averaged
almost 17,100 for its eight-game SEC homestand
- including a school record crowd of 18,000 to
see the Gamecocks play Kentucky.
In 2002-03, opened The Carolina Center to record
crowds, with the team finishing 11-4 at home,
including a perfect 7-0 against non-conference
teams. Chuck Eidson broke the career steals record
(272) and steals per game record (2.42 spg) at
USC. He finished third on the SEC all-time list.
€ In 2001-02, won more games (22) as
a first-year South Carolina coach than any mentor
in Gamecock history and led the Gamecocks to the
NIT finals. No USC team prior to 2002 had ever
been past the quarterfinals of either the NCAA
or NIT post-season classics.
In 2002, led Carolina to a combined record of
6-2 in the NIT and SEC post-season classics, as
USC advanced to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament
with wins over eventual NCAA teams Ole Miss and
Kentucky. Prior to 2003, had led his last 12 teams
to postseason appearances, including seven showings
in the NCAA Championships. Guided his last 11
Wake Forest teams to consecutive postseason appearances,
including seven straight NCAA Tournament trips
from 1991 through 1997.
Led the Deacons to eight NCAA appearances and
three trips to the NIT, with Wake Forest capturing
the 2000 NIT championship.
Wake Forest made eight appearances in the NCAA
Tournament prior to Odom¹s arrival before
to the 1989-90 season, and he equaled those eight
appearances in his 12 years with the Deacons.
Prior to 2002, all-time, Wake Forest appeared
in 21 postseason tournaments (NCAA and NIT). Eleven
of those appearances (53 percent) came under Odom.
Had a 10-8 record in NCAA Tournament games while
at Wake Forest, leading the Deacons to the Sweet
16 twice (1993, 1995) and the Elite Eight once
(1996). He easily is the Wake Forest all-time
leader in NCAA Tournament victories (Bones McKinney
is second with six).
In 1995, 1996 and 1997, Wake Forest finished as
one of the top 10 teams in the country, claiming
the No. 3 spot in 1995, and the No. 9 position
in both the 1996 and 1997 final polls. The 26-6
records of Oe95 and Oe96 were the best in school
history, as well.
Wake Forest spent 10 weeks as the nation¹s
No. 2-ranked team in 1997 < the school¹s
highest ranking ever.
Led Wake Forest to the 1995 and 1996 Atlantic
Coast Conference championship and is one of only
11 coaches to lead teams to at least two ACC titles.
Was the 1995 National Coach of the Year.
Was named ACC Coach of the-Year in 1991, 1994
and 1995, becoming the first individual to receive
that honor in consecutive seasons since Virginia¹s
Terry Holland in 1981 and 1982.
Led the Deacons to finishes of fifth place or
better in the Atlantic Coast Conference over each
of the last nine seasons, a feat equaled by just
North Carolina in that time period. In Odom¹s
12 years at Wake Forest, the Deacons finished
fifth or higher in the standings 10 times.
Is second on the Wake Forest all-time wins list
(240), winning more games in his 12 years than
any other Deacon coach over a similar period of
time. He accomplished this despite taking over
a program that had suffered four-straight losing
seasons prior to his arrival (1989-90 season).
His 240 overall victories in 12 seasons (average
of 20 wins per season) at Wake Forest ranks eighth
on the ACC overall wins listing. He finished the
2001 season third to Duke¹s Mike Krzyzewski
and Maryland¹s Gary Williams on the active
list.
Has a combined record of 507-321 (61.2 percent)
in 27 seasons as an assistant coach or head coach
on the college level, being a part of 19 postseason
teams (including 14 NCAA Tournament teams).
Odom's 101 wins in ACC play are the most ever
by a Deacon coach. He ranks ninth on the career
ACC wins list and finished 2001 second to Mike
Krzyzewski on the active list.
€ Had
an overall winning percentage of 64.5 percent
while at Wake Forest (240-132), which was the
best at the school in nearly a century, and he
claimed .500 or better marks in ACC Tournament
and NCAA Tournament competition as well.
€ He is a three-time winner of district
coach of the year honors by the U.S. Basketball
Writers Association and twice he has been a National
Association of Basketball Coaches award-winner
on the district level.
€ Since
his only losing record at Wake Forest in 1990
(his first season), Odom¹s teams won more
than two-thirds of their games, recording 228
victories (20.7 per year) the last 11 campaigns.
€ His Wake Forest teams posted
a remarkable 82-5 record at home against non-conference
opponents, including a number of matchups against
Top-20 nationally-ranked teams.
In his 12 seasons at Wake Forest, Odom¹s
teams defeated 40 nationally-ranked teams, including
17 victories against Top 10 opponents. His teams
also defeated seven Top 10 teams on the opponents¹
home floors.
Odom has also coached three players who have
earned All-America honors, including 1997 consensus
national player of the year Tim Duncan (1996,
1997), guard Randolph Childress (1996), and
forward Rodney Rogers (1993).
Including his tenure at East Carolina, Odom¹s
career coaching record is an impressive 312-205
(a 60.3 winning percentage). He achieved his
200th overall career win on February 12, 1997,
in a 55-49 Wake Forest victory over Clemson;
and win No. 300 in the NIT semifinal victory
(66-59) over Syracuse.
He spent the summer of 1999 as an assistant
coach on the USA Basketball Junior World Championship
team. That team competed in Portugal in July
and captured the silver medal at the FIBA Men¹s
Junior World Championships.
Began his college coaching career as an assistant
coach for three seasons under Carl Tacy at Wake
Forest (1977-79). The Deacs were 53-33 during
that time, including a 22-8 campaign in 1976-77
when they advanced to the NCAA Midwest Region
finals, matching the school¹s farthest
progress in postseason play in the past 35 years.
Odom became head coach at East Carolina in 1979,
and led the Pirates to a 38-42 record in the
difficult world of a Division I independent
from 1980-82. His first Pirate squad, however,
compiled a 16-11 record, the school¹s best
since 1975.
Was an assistant coach under Terry Holland at
Virginia (1983-89), where the team compiled
a 142-83 (63.1 winning percentage) overall record
during the seven years that Odom was involved
in its program, making postseason appearances
every year except 1988. Five of those seasons,
the Cavaliers were among the NCAA championship
field, including a trip to the Final Four in
1984.
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