The Utah State men’s basketball team earned a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament, five years after Aggies head coach Ryan Odom led UMBC to a historic upset.
Odom just completed his second year in charge of the Aggies, who missed the tournament in 2022 after compiling an 18-16 record. But Utah State improved its standing this season, finishing at 26-9 overall. The Aggies lost to San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference championship game and fell to Missouri in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to close out their season.
Odom, who coached UMBC from 2016-2021, is responsible for the first 16-over-1 upset in men’s tournament history. The Retrievers defeated Virginia, 74-54, on March 16, 2018, ending a 135-game streak of top-seed invincibility in the Round of 64. The Retrievers outscored the Cavaliers, 53-33, in the second half. Senior guard Jairus Lyles was the game’s top player with a 28-point scoring outburst.
Odom says he still talks about that moment with former players and coaches from the 2017-18 UMBC squad.
“We beat New Mexico the other night in the first round of the conference tournament, and at 5 a.m. I started getting this barrage of text messages,” Odom said on Glenn Clark Radio March 15. “… It’s all of our former players from UMBC and coaches from that particular year. It was obviously the five-year anniversary, and so they were just firing back funny memories and pictures and things from that year. I was literally in tears laughing so hard at some of the things that were being sent out.”
Odom said the free spirit of the team was the reason for their success. “Nobody was self-conscious,” according the coach, who added that the group simply enjoyed the moments they got to spend together.
Only one player from that Retrievers team played college basketball in 2022-23: Graduate forward Daniel Akin, who played for Odom at Utah State. Akin played every game for UMBC in 2017-18 and did the same this season for his coach. Akin was voted MWC Sixth Man of the Year by coaches and the media for his efforts (12.0 points, 6.8 rebounds per game).
Senior guard RJ Eytle-Rock also followed Odom to Utah State. He saw his playing time decline this season after starting every game last year, but Odom is proud of the journey that he and the player have shared throughout five years together. Eytle-Rock got a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time this year, scoring six points against Missouri.
“We had some hard losses at UMBC during his time there,” Odom said. “… For him, this is one of the reasons that he came out here. He wanted to play in the NCAA Tournament, and now he’s getting the opportunity to do that.”
UMBC and its fan base will forever have a positive memory attached to their program from Odom’s tenure. In fact, Odom still feels the love and support from fans back in Maryland, some of whom may have adopted Utah State as an alternate team to support.
“I get text messages from folks back in Maryland that are pulling for us out here and that’s how it should be, right?” Odom said. “Nothing’s forever. Eventually, there’s going to be a new coach, there’s going to be new players and we’re just the gatekeepers right now, for the program that we’re at. And so every team has one chance, right? … It has one life to live, and that team lived an awesome life. And multiple teams at UMBC did when we were there. We had fun.”
For more from Odom, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Mitchell Layton Photography