Shaka Smart texts him to check in. He runs into Mike Rhoades, Anthony Grant and Will Wade at recruiting events.

Sitting in his office at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Basketball Development Center, surrounded by photos and mementos from the Rams’ past success, Ryan Odom knows he didn’t sign up for a normal coaching gig.

Odom, who took over this year as the coach of the Rams’ storied basketball program, recalls the welcome he received from other members of the fraternity.

“I’ve seen the majority of the coaches who coached here,” he says. “They loved it here. Their time here was extremely special, and those relationships that were forged over the time they were here.”

Odom represents the next chapter of VCU basketball, the first head coach who hasn’t worked directly with Smart at any point. After taking the job in April, one of Odom’s top priorities was to let the former coaches and players know they’re still family.

“Those that chose to leave are still a part of VCU history,” he says of the players who left the program. “They won a championship last year … and so we’re really proud of those folks. And I would suspect that they’ll come home at some point, once their careers are done.

“This place is just like that. It’s a special place.”

Now, he arrives to work every day ready to put his own stamp on the operation. Shaka was a celebrity, the cerebral Wade won with analytics, and Rhoades had a folksiness that resonated on the recruiting trail. What will the program’s new identity be?

Odom displays plenty of fire on the court, as all coaches do, but is soft-spoken off of it. He exudes a Mister Rogers friendliness that immediately puts all in his orbit at ease, while his knowledge and history of the game has helped him become a fixture on the scene already.

During one week in October, he appeared at the Jefferson hotel alongside University of Virginia coach Tony Bennett, dined at Curbside Grill in The Fan, and golfed with Richmond coach Chris Mooney and star musician Noah Kahan at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic. (Kahan’s assessment of Odom: “super chill.”)

Even if he’s doing it unintentionally, Odom’s love of food and his presence at city restaurants is already ingratiating himself to a community where he holds one of the most prominent positions.

“They are role models,” VCU President Dr. Michael Rao says of the basketball team and their role on campus. He adds: “All of the ingredients we need at VCU are here. We have a large, diverse and deeply engaged student population … we have extraordinary loyal fans and alumni, a commitment to successful athletics all the way around.”

Those groups provide support for the team, but the team also drives VCU’s reputation regionally and nationally. Coming out of the COVID pandemic, the Rams’ 10-year sellout streak at the Siegel Center came to an end. Odom arrives at a time where fan and student support is no longer taken for granted, but has to be earned – and he knows winning is the quickest way to accomplish that.

Son of a coach

Before practice started, Odom narrated a highlight video for the Rams’ social media accounts, his voice staying even-keel but exuding a passion for the job and the upcoming season.

He knows the importance of winning, both on and off the court, from spending his childhood immersed in the world.

Odom is the son of longtime hoops coach Dave Odom, who made nine trips to the NCAA tournament himself. Ryan Odom attended Hampden-Sydney College before launching his own coaching journey, which includes one of the biggest upsets in college sports history – he led No. 16 seed University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) to a tournament victory over No. 1 Virginia.

During that time, Odom says he’s always admired VCU from afar. When the opportunity came to replace the departing Mike Rhoades, he jumped at it.

However, there was immediate work to be done. With Rhoades’ departure, a number of the team’s players chose to leave the program, meaning Odom had to build an entire roster from scratch in just a few months.

College athletics has changed dramatically in the past few years, with players now more free than ever before to transfer between programs, and court rulings that allow them to be compensated for NIL – their name, image and likeness.

Odom isn’t afraid of the new world, and applauds the freedom it has brought, declaring it “a good thing for the student-athletes.”

“In most marketplaces, you’re free to move from job to job,” he says. “Everybody leaves for different reasons, and to hold someone back from that is not in our best interest, long-term, for athletics.”

Like most major programs, the Rams encourage their players to seek out commercial opportunities to leverage their celebrity in Richmond into income through Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).

“Eventually they’re going to be outside of college, and they’re going to be either continuing their pro career, or they’re going to be moving into another line of work where they’re going to have to understand financial responsibilities,” he says. “For them to learn those lessons while in college, while being able to market themselves and their brand, who are we to hold them back from that?”

Odom’s frantic summer is also remaking the team in a way that may be jarring to longtime observers.

His teams are known for a fast-paced approach that tries to score quickly when they get the ball. That emphasis on offense showed last year at Utah State, where the team he coached was in the top-20 nationally in scoring efficiency.

VCU’s longtime mantra of ‘havoc’ – a defense that applies constant pressure and seeks to reduce offense – isn’t out the door entirely, Odom says, but the new system will seek to balance the two approaches.

“If we can merge those two worlds, the aggressive defense that VCU is known for, and then also the efficient offense that we’ve been able to create over the years, I think it could be a good combination,” he says.

Odom knows, though, that the VCU culture extends far beyond just what happens on the court. Game days at the Siegel Center have become famous for loud, rowdy atmospheres, as well as performances by the Peppas, the school’s pep band that has gained national fame under director Ryan Kopacsi.

“I’m just so impressed with the Peppas,” Odom says. “Ryan does an amazing job. I’m also really impressed with the spirit team and their engagement, their willingness to be there for our sports.”

He goes on to thank academic workers, strength coaches, maintenance crews and others who keep things moving on a day-to-day basis. The message is clear: Odom is now the face of VCU basketball, but he understands he’s the caretaker of something far bigger than himself.

“It truly is a team effort,” he says. “And we’re really fortunate, the support that we have.”