Welcome to the Hoos On Podcast, part of The Sabre Podcast Network, talking all things UVA athletics. Hosted by Preston Willett, a writer for The Sabre and a veteran covering the Wahoos. Join Preston every week to talk to beat writers, players, coaches and others to bring a whole new angle on the Cavaliers.
As UVA embarks on a new era for men's basketball, Preston invites back David Teel from The Virginian-Pilot to talk through what to expect for the Cavaliers with Ryan Odom in charge. First they react to March Madness, but not the play on the court. With coaches like Will Wade and Kevin Willard dominating headlines this March, Preston and David ponder how the college basketball calendar needs to change with coaching searches and the transfer portal. Then Preston pulls out five takeaways from Ryan Odom's introductory press conference to discuss with David from the top-10 program talk/NIL resources, what Odom thinks of the current UVA roster, play style, the general manager and the rest of the coaching staff, including Griff Aldrich. Finally, David explains how Odom is ready to take on the mantle of being a high-profile ACC coach.
Preston is joined by Mike Barber to take a deep dive into new UVA men's basketball coach Ryan Odom to learn more about his history, how he worked his way up the ladder and building a roster. First Preston and Mike give their initial thoughts on the hire, which was easily forecasted as far back as October. Then they discuss the Chance Mallory commitment and what that means for Odom as he starts his UVA tenure. Later the guys breakdown Odom's history with UVA and how his "fit" goes beyond his days as a ball boy. Preston and Mike then go through some of the biggest hesitations from the fan base over the hire, including NCAA Tournament track record, national attention and sustaining success. Finally, Preston breaks down the news about Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich joining Odom's coaching staff as an associate head coach, how the rest of the staff could fill out and a few transfer portal notes.
An emergency podcast live from Disharoon Park! Preston and Greg hop on to react to the news that Ryan Odom has agreed to become the next head men's basketball coach at Virginia. The guys quickly go over Odom's background, coaching record and how Odom has been there for some of the biggest moments in program history. Then Preston and Greg discuss Odom's playing style and how he has recruited his rosters at the last couple stops. Finally they wrap up talking about rumors of Longwood's Griff Aldrich joining the staff as general manager, how Odom will fill out the rest of the coaching staff and a big recruiting commitment coming on Saturday.
As the offseason gets started for UVA, Preston welcomes back Zach Carey from Streaking the Lawn and Cuts From The Corner to look forward and also look back at their season predictions. The guys start by trying to dissect what exactly went wrong for the Cavaliers this season from the off the court drama to what happened on the court. Then they give their thoughts on the end of an era for Virginia basketball after the school moved on from Ron Sanchez and closed the door to the Tony Bennett years. Preston and Zach give their thoughts on VCU's Ryan Odom as the next potential head coach and Cuts shares what he's observed from Odom's teams on film. Finally, they look at the players in the transfer portal and the ones with potential to move and who the next coach might want to keep around. Later the guys revisit their preseason predictions for Virginia and see what they got right (not much) and where they went wrong (a lot), while also breaking down each player on the roster along the way.
As UVA settles in for the NCAA Tournament waiting game, Preston is joined by Jacquie Franciulli from Wahoos 247 to talk UVA basketball coaching search and spring football. Preston and Jacquie leadoff by setting the timeline for Carla Williams and Virginia making the hire from the tourney to the transfer portal opening. Then they discuss VCU's Ryan Odom as the leading candidate for the job with all indications things are done behind the scenes, while also discussing the pluses and minuses for the potential hire. Jacquie also gives an update on where things stand with the current roster and the key (re)recruitment of Charlottesville's Chance Mallory. Later Preston and Jacquie pivot to spring football with the Cavaliers going into their second week of practice. The two go position group by position group to give a confidence rating for each and talk about the strengths and weaknesses for Tony Elliott's roster.