Virginia basketball is entering a new era with Ryan Odom taking over as head coach. The Cavaliers will be faster, and also return to some of their old principles.
After 14 consecutive winning seasons under head coach Tony Bennett, including 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and a national championship, Virginia basketball took a massive step back in 2024-25 under new leadership. Bennett retired late in the coaching cycle, and interim coach Ron Sanchez finished just 15-17 (8-12 ACC), ranking outside the top 100 in both offensive and defensive adjusted efficiency.
It marked the program’s first sub-.500 season since 2010, and its worst KenPom finish (No. 106) in the site’s history.
Ryan Odom now arrives in Charlottesville as head coach, fresh off successful stints at UMBC, Utah State and VCU. Odom holds a career 222-127 (.636) record but has more importantly reached 20-plus wins in each of the last three seasons, including a pair of KenPom top-35 finishes and NCAA Tournament appearances. Still, his only win in the Big Dance came in historic fashion when guiding UMBC to the first-ever 16-over-1 seed upset — against the program he now runs.
As with most coaching changes in the modern era, Odom started the offseason with a nearly empty cupboard. Since taking over, he has retooled the roster in his image with incoming transfers and exciting freshmen. The additions paint a picture of what Odom’s Year 1 vision for the Cavaliers.
Familiar prioritization but at a quicker pace.
Virginia’s success under Tony Bennett started on the defensive end, slowing opponents down to glacial paces and forcing them into difficult shots inside the arc. The Cavaliers ranked in the top 50 nationally for both 2-point percentage allowed and block rate forced in nine of Bennett’s last 12 seasons. Odom’s Rams accomplished that feat in each of the last two years, including top 10 rankings in both categories this past season. If his time at VCU are any indication, Odom will preach similar philosophies as what Bennett brought to Charlottesville.
Overall, Odom-coached teams have ranked in the top 40 for 2-point percentage allows in four of the last five seasons, ranking 11th with UMBC in 2021 and fourth with VCU last season. His teams also set defensive tempo tone similar to Virginia’s top recent years; VCU ranked 356th in average defensive possession length last season, marking the sixth time in the last seven years that Odom led a team to force opponents into a bottom-100 tempo. The big key will be for Odom to maintain those principles while limiting free-throw rate allowed, something Bennett’s teams did exceptionally well.
On the offensive end, though, Odom preaches a different tempo than UVA has been accustomed to:
While the tempo increases, Virginia’s prioritization of ball movement should remain. Bennett-coached teams ranked in the top 100 for assist rate in 10 of his last 12 seasons with the program; Odom’s last four teams, across stints with Utah State and VCU, have all finished top 70. He also appears to have prioritized that style in the offseason, adding pass-first point guards in BYU transfer Dallin Hall and freshman Chance Mallory to set the table for his offense.
Hall calls his dishes: 3-ball, corner pocket.
Hall, the veteran of the guard duo, arrives with plenty of familiarity running a 3-point-oriented offense like what Virginia appears poised to play. Both Odom’s Utah State/VCU teams and Hall’s BYU teams have ranked in the top-150 in 3-point attempt rate in each of the last three seasons. The Cougars highly favored the deep ball with Hall on the roster; they both made and attempted trifectas at a higher rate when he was on the floor.
Hall-led lineups shot 37.9% from three this past season as opposed to 35.5% when he sat. When he was a full-time starter the year prior, the Cougars were 35.4% from deep while attempting over half their shots from deep. On the other hand, their attempt rate (.519 to .466) and efficiency (.354 to .328) dipped without him.
Getting into the weeds a bit more, Odom’s VCU team ranked in the 98th percentile nationally in corner 3-point attempt frequency last season. That was a high-water mark of Odom’s coaching career to attempt that many corner 3s, but it wasn’t a one-off. Odom-coached teams have ranked in the upper third of the country for corner-3 attempt rate in six of the last seven years:
As far as how that relates to Odom’s newest point guard, Hall has assisted on 20-plus corner 3s in each of his collegiate seasons, including a career-best 27 assists to the corner last year. Hall’s Cougars attempted 13.7% of its 3s from the corner (equivalent of the 99th percentile) when he was on the floor, splashing 43.5% of them (equivalent of the 98th percentile).
The Cougars were especially dangerous from the left side of the floor with Hall on the court, hitting 51.4% of left-corner 3s (74 attempts) and 42.1% of left-wing 3s (126 attempts).
The shooters are shooters.
Virginia is poised to attempt a lot of 3s and has a playmaker with experience creating such looks. But who will be on the receiving ends of those dishes, and can they knock them down? Virginia did not add a ton of shooters via the portal but those it added are among the best in the country.
Namely, good luck finding many better targets for Hall to spray the ball to than Toledo’s Sam Lewis and North Dakota State’s Jacari White. Lewis ranked in the 91st or better percentile in each of overall 3-point percentage, catch-and-shoot, and spot-up efficiency, while White is a career 40.6% 3-point shooter on 483 attempts. Malik Thomas is more scorer than shooter, averaging nearly 20 points per game at San Francisco this past season, but also hit nearly 40% of his 3s.
All three are more than just standstill shooters as well. The 6-6 Lewis was a Second Team All-MAC selection at 16.2 points per game, attempting over two-thirds of his shots inside the arc; White, 6-3, earned both second team all-conference and all-defense honors in the Summit League while averaging 17.1 points; Thomas led the WCC in scoring and was a first team all-league selection.
There will be an adjustment to playing in the ACC night in and night out, but Virginia appears to have plenty of firepower in its 1-through-3 spots between Hall’s playmaking and the scoring trio of White, Thomas and Lewis.
A frontcourt filled with fit and elite potential.
While Virginia’s backcourt is loaded with collegiate experience, arguably the team’s most important frontcourt players for 2025-26 are new to the college game. That said, both Johann Grunloh and Thjis De Ridder have professional experience under their belts. Additionally, early projections indicate their time in Charlottesville might be short-lived; both have already received NBA interest.
Grunloh, the first of the two signings, is set to run the 5 and appears to be a perfect fit.
“He’s a skilled player with shot-blocking ability around the rim,” Coach Odom said of the German big. “He can really pass the ball on the exterior, so you can play through him. He has the ability to score on the block and … shoot the three and stretch you from beyond the arc.”
Okay, so…shot-blocking? Check. Passing? Check. Shooting? Check. Coachspeak? Perhaps, but the fit appears evident.
De Ridder was only cleared by the NCAA in mid-July, making for a late boost to Virginia’s 2025-26 outlook. A 22-year-old who averaged 9.3 points on 39% from three in Spain’s top league last season, he is a good bet to be a high-level contributor.
Odom also has plans in place for if those two adjust more slowly than expected. To bolster the team’s rim protection, Ugonna Onyenso arrives with a career 13.2% block rate to his name. He led the SEC in block rate while at Kentucky in 2024.
As for floor spacing, UC Irvine transfer Devin Tillis is the most proven commodity in Virginia’s frontcourt. A veteran with 128 games played (110 starts) under his belt, he can supplement Virginia’s fresher faces while also splashing 3s along the way. Tillis, 6-6, is a career 38.6% 3-point shooter, averaging 13.7 points and hitting a career-high 49 3s last year en route to second-team All-Big West honors.
Will Odom find instant success in Year 1?
Outside of stylistic changes and fits, a key will be whether an incoming transfer can step into a starring role at the ACC level.
Malik Thomas feels poised to fit the bill. Diving deeper into his player profile, Thomas was one of only six players in the country to make 65+ 3s and record a free throw rate over 45.0, joining the likes of John Tonje and Mark Sears. He also averaged 21.7 points across three games against Gonzaga, plus netted 36 against Loyola Chicago, 22 against Boise State and 25 against Memphis.
Still, Virginia is not without its questions. After all, it is difficult for a brand-new coaching staff and roster to gel quickly while helping a program climb back from a sub-100 KenPom finish the year prior.
How everyone adjusts to their new situations will be critical. Some will need to adjust to playing in the ACC as opposed to the mid-major level; others will be embarking on their first seasons in America. On top of that, they must learn their new roles and how to play together for a new coach and in a new system.
Ryan Odom has had success at three different programs, but he took until Year 2 at each spot to make the NCAA Tournament. Simply put, it isn’t easy to immediately lead a turnaround. Still, the ACC presents opportunities for a quick rise from the ashes. Virginia’s combination of experience, shooting, and high-ceiling internationals could make it this year’s phoenix.
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