Dave Odom Talks Post and Point Play with Coach Arritt

(LISTEN)

This week we are glad to have Dave Odom as our guest on The Passing Game with Fletcher Arritt.  Most recently the head basketball coach at the University of South Carolina, Coach Odom  was a three sport athlete at Goldsboro High School in Greensboro, NC.  He attended Guilford College, and quarterbacked the football team as well as lettering four years in basketball from 1961-1965.

Coach Odom began his coaching career at the high school level in North Carolina.  In 1976, after eleven years at the high school level, Odom took his first collegiate position as an assistant at Wake Forest University under Carl Tacy.  Three years later he became the head coach at East Carolina.  In 1982, Odom returned to the ACC as an assistant.  This time, he joined Terry Holland's staff at the University of Virginia--where he coached Ralph Sampson and helped the Cavaliers to the 1984 NCAA Final Four.

Odom was named the head coach at Wake Forest University in 1989.  In twelve seasons as the Deacons' head coach, he compiled a record of 240-132 reaching the NCAA tournament 8 times--winning the 1995 ACC Tournament in one of the greatest 3-day performances in tournament history.  He was named ACC Coach of the Year on three occasions (1991, 1994, and 1995) and coached some of the ACC's best, including Randolph Childress and Tim Duncan.

In 2001, Odom took the head coaching job at South Carolina University.  He stayed for 7 seasons, compiling a record of 128-104.  He was named SEC Coach of the Year in 2004 and led the Gamecocks to back-to-back NIT championships (2005, 2006).

Retired from coaching as of 2008, Coach Odom, who currently is enjoying the "island life," is the Chairman of the Maui Invitational Tournament and serves as an analyst/commentator for television and radio. 

In this episode, he joins Coach Arritt and Brooks Berry in a conversation that covers team chemistry, coaching the post, the value of the point position, and, believe it or not, the most loyal breed of dog.  We are honored to have him as our guest.