Odom out of NC State picture, but in at Villanova?

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Image: VCU Athletics

Four days after Virginia’s coaching job officially became open, the search continues.

Here’s what we’ve heard from a number of sources on Saturday:

It appears that UVA’s top target, VCU’s Ryan Odom, is no longer in the picture at NC State. Odom was considered to be on State AD Boo Corrigan’s short list until the past couple of days. However, Odom’s name has now surfaced for the Villanova job (details below).

NC State’s Corrigan appears to have narrowed his search to McNeese State’s Will Wade and Tennessee assistant coach Justin Gainey, a former point guard for the Wolfpack, who is endorsed by Vols head coach Rick Barnes.

Gainey has been an assistant coach for 13 years, but has never been a head coach. Wade has been a head coach for 11 seasons, including VCU, LSU and now McNeese.

Wade was fired by LSU in March of 2022 and given a two-year show-cause penalty for his recruiting and bribery allegations concerning recruits.

Meanwhile, Odom has been busy leading VCU to today’s championship game (1 p.m., CBS) of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Rams (27-6), the event’s No. 1 seed, will take on No. 2 seed George Mason (22-11) in Washington, D.C.

While Odom may no longer be in the hunt for the NC State job, his name is being circulated for the Villanova job, which opened up Saturday when Wildcats AD Eric Roedl fired Kyle Neptune, who took over the position three years ago when Jay Wright walked away from the game. Neptune failed to take Villanova to the NCAA Tournament during his three-year stint.

Odom’s name was immediately mentioned as a potential candidate, along with New Mexico’s Richard Pitino, Porter Moser of Oklahoma, Maryland’s Kevin Willard and Chris Collins of Northwestern.

The son of longtime Virginia assistant coach and former Wake Forest head coach Dave Odom, Ryan, 50, jumped to the top of the list after it was reported that Marquette’s Shaka Smart wasn’t interested in the job.

Other candidates for the Virginia job appear to be Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger, 47; Drake head coach Ben McCollum, 43, and Furman’s Bob Richey, 41.

Iowa State (24-9) lost, 96-92, to BYU in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday. Meanwhile, Drake, the top seed in the Missouri Valley Tournament, beat Bradley, 63-48 for the championship. Drake is 31-3 on the season. Furman (25-9) lost, 92-85, to Wofford in the Southern Conference championship game.

Some clarity on how Sanchez learned he was fired

By Jerry Ratcliffe

There has been lots of speculation about when exactly Virginia interim basketball coach Ron Sanchez knew that he would not be retained after Wednesday’s loss in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.

Sanchez guided UVA to a 15-17 record (8-12 ACC), after the Cavaliers stumbled to a 1-6 conference record early on.

The 53-year-old coach, who took over for Tony Bennett after Bennett shocked the basketball world with his sudden resignation only weeks before the season began, was near tears at one point of his postgame press conference following the loss to Georgia Tech, a team that UVA had beaten in 20 of the last 22 meetings, including 13 straight.

Sanchez was teary-eyed while listening to the team’s leading scorer, junior Isaac McKneely, tell the media how much the coach had meant to the Cavaliers this season, inspiring them to overcome adversity and fight to the end.

There has been speculation that Sanchez was told after the game, but before the press conference, that Virginia was moving on after a national search that began months ago. Other stories said he wasn’t told of his firing until Virginia’s team plane landed back in Charlottesville.

Neither were correct.

According to a source close to the program, Sanchez learned his fate well after the game, after the press conference, when Virginia’s team returned to their hotel in Charlotte before heading to the airport. He was informed by UVA AD Carla Williams when Sanchez and the team returned to the hotel, so he flew home with the knowledge that he would not return.

Whether or not he informed the team before he left the hotel isn’t known.

Asked during the press conference if he believed he deserved the opportunity to keep his position, Sanchez didn’t hesitate with his reply.

“Absolutely,” Sanchez said. “I’m a good basketball coach. I have confidence in that I’ve been tutored by the right people. People can measure it with wins and losses, but there’s so much more than the 30 games you play. How you sustain, how you treat people, how you manage, what kind of leader are you?

“Anybody can do this when it’s easy. It takes something different to navigate the ship and stormy waters. I’m 10 times the better coach than I was on October 18.”

BREAKING: UVA announces Sanchez will not return next season

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Photo: UVA Athletics

Ron Sanchez, who served as the University of Virginia’s interim men’s basketball coach during the 2024-2025 season, will not be retained as the program’s full-time head coach. The announcement was made today by Virginia Director of Athletics Carla Williams.

Sanchez assumed the interim head coach position on Oct. 18 following the retirement of 15-year head coach Tony Bennett. This season Sanchez led the Cavaliers to a 15-17 record. It was his 11th season with the program that included two different stints with the Cavaliers.

He served as an assistant coach (2009-2014) and associate head coach (2015-2018). In 2023, Coach Sanchez returned to Charlottesville to serve as associate head coach (2023-24).

“I am grateful to Coach Sanchez for accepting this role during such a critical time for the program.” Williams said. “Ron is the ultimate professional because he cares deeply about this program and this University. He is an exceptional person because he is gifted as an empathetic and caring human being.

”He is beloved within our department and in the UVA community. Ron and the staff provided great stability, guidance and support for the young men on the team and we are thankful for his commitment to UVA and the values that are foundational to Virginia men’s basketball.”

Sanchez believes he deserves to keep his job

By Jerry Ratcliffe

CHARLOTTE — When Ron Sanchez returned to Virginia’s coaching staff a couple of years ago, he never planned his next step in the profession would be “interim.”

That phase of his career, suddenly thrust upon him without warning back in October when Tony Bennett walked away from basketball, is now over for Sanchez. His UVA team, despite a furious late rally, lost a 66-60 decision to Georgia Tech on Wednesday in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

Virginia finished the season with its first losing record since 2010, ending 15-17, dropping 5 of its last 7 games.

Sanchez’ fate will be determined by athletic director Carla Williams, who sent out a letter to donors earlier in the week, noting that Virginia will announce its decision between the opening and the close of the national signing portal, March 24 through April 22.

During Wednesday’s postgame interviews at the Spectrum Center, Sanchez’s eyes misted up when he listened to UVA star Isaac McNeely describe how the coach helped the team navigate stormy seas all season long. To Sanchez, winning and losing wasn’t as important as keeping Virginia’s culture alive. He believes he has done enough to earn the job fulltime, to boot the interim tag, but realizes it’s not his decision.

Asked if he deserves the opportunity to keep his job, Sanchez didn’t flinch.

“Absolutely,” he flashed. “I’m a good basketball coach. I have confidence in that I’ve been tutored by the right people.

“People can measure it with wins and losses, but there’s much more than the 30 games that you play. It’s how you treat people, how you manage, what kind of leader are you? Anybody can do this when it’s easy.”

The longtime sidekick of Bennett at Washington State and Virginia, Sanchez said he was actually thankful for the hard times he and the program suffered through, even more so than the victories they experienced together, because he says it made him 10 times better as a coach than he was in October.

Sanchez certainly earned the respect of his players, and McKneely praised his coach after the loss to Georgia Tech. When it boiled down to culture, McKneely, who scored 27 points  (7 of 11 triples), told it like it was.

“[Sanchez] showed up every day, giving his all,” McKneely said. “He came prepared to practice. He was energetic at practice. He did a great job, even through the losses, of keeping us together after the games. Credit him for that.”

McKneely pointed out how Sanchez had been put in a tough situation before the season when Bennett decided to step down completely out of the blue. One projected starter and a transfer immediately left the program, adding to the adversity the team had to deal with from Day One. Sanchez never complained, even though he was taking over a program with one senior, maybe Virginia’s youngest team over the entire Bennett era.

Faith and his coaching staff helped sustain Sanchez throughout the challenging campaign, admitting it was incredibly difficult.

Sanchez couldn’t help but get choked up hearing what McKneely said, the captain speaking for his teammates. They all appreciated what Sanchez did under the circumstances.

“Coaches want their players to say what [McKneely] just said,” Sanchez pointed out. “Which was, ‘Coach brought energy … he was encouraging … he appreciated me.’ Basically that he loved me.”

Sanchez had his own definition for what success for Virginia basketball was this season. It had nothing to do with the scoreboard or the record.

Instead, “It literally was what [McKneely] just said,” Sanchez shared.

He knew he had big shoes to fill. He never wanted to be Tony Bennett, who Sanchez called a massive figure, not just in the Commonwealth, but in college basketball. He wouldn’t have minded having some of the pro players on his roster that Bennett enjoyed, but did the best he could with the hand he was dealt.

“This is a heavy crown,” Sanchez said. “I’m fortunate that I had a chance to wear it. I’ve been through hard times before and I knew that this storm was going to pass. Nothing is forever.”

On Wednesday, he was just proud of his team for fighting back, fighting to the end after being down by 13 points and rallying back to within one possession in the final minute. That’s the culture he’s proud of. His team didn’t quit.

Now he sits and waits the outcome of a national coaching search that has been quietly carried out for months. Sanchez hasn’t had a formal sitdown with Williams, an interview to plead his case.

“I believe that I’ve had four months to do that,” Sanchez said of this basketball season serving as his resume. “I think that Carla and her advisors gave me the opportunity to interview every day. My job now is done, my interview is over and whatever they decide will be what’s best for the University of Virginia, and I am going to be very supportive of whatever they decide.

“I love this place. No matter what happens, Virginia has my respect, my love, and I will continue to appreciate this place for all that it has done for me throughout the years.”

Wahoos open ACC Tourney play, looking back at turnaround

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo: UVA Athletics

Back in mid-January, Virginia was languishing in its own basketball hell.

The Cavaliers had dropped five straight games — two to Louisville, one to SMU and one each to Cal and Stanford on a West Coast swing — the program’s longest losing streak since Tony Bennett’s first year (2009-10). At that point, UVA stood at 8-10 overall and a paltry 1-6 in conference play.

There was chatter that the Wahoos, led by interim coach Ron Sanchez, would be fortunate to even make the ACC Tournament.

Sanchez and his team could have easily folded, come apart at the seams and called it a season. Give him and his coaching staff credit for not waving a flag of surrender.

Virginia won 7 of its last 13 games to capture the No. 9 seed and a first-round bye, which leads to today’s high noon showdown with Georgia Tech in the second round of the ACC Tournament (ESPN). The Yellow Jackets are a team that the Cavaliers have dominated, with UVA winning 20 out of the last 22 games against Tech, including the last 13 straight.

Yet, Damon Stoudamire’s 8th-seeded Jackets are a 1.0 to 1.5-point favorite.

Perhaps that’s because Tech has won five of its last seven games to close the regular season (seven of its last 10), while Virginia closed by losing four of its last six.

Sanchez delved into what it took to right the Good Ship Wahoo earlier this week before the team headed to Charlotte for Wednesday’s game. Sanchez said it required both a tactical component and a psychological component to pull his team out of a terrible rut.

“Part of it was a lot of conversations, really coaching the group, but also coaching the guys individually and film sessions,” the coach revealed. “This is where you can be really effective. Identifying these are the things that are not working individually, and then trying to put all those things together.”

Complicating that juncture of the season was the almost week-long trip to California to play the ACC’s West Coast members, including the Cal game, which didn’t begin until 11 p.m. Eastern time.

Sanchez relied on the program’s pillars and the team playing unselfishly, along with a secret ingredient: Fun.

“I wanted them to go back to their middle school days where they were just playing for fun,” Sanchez said. “We needed time and consistency to do that, and I think that we finally arrived in that space and then the guys just kind of ran away with it from there.”

The tactical side of things was a different approach. Sanchez had loosened the reins a bit on the offense, and he and the staff had to figure out how to make sure that Isaac McKneely scored the ball, and how to get the ball in the best place for Dai Dai Ames to be most effective. What could Andrew Rohde do to help the team, and how would redshirt freshman Anthony Robinson’s physicality fit?

All those factors came to fruition, with McKneely leading the team in scoring (14 ppg) and leading the ACC in 3-point accuracy (41 percent), while Ames came on strong and averaged 14.8 points per game over the last 10 contests.

A fiery Rohde put up dazzling numbers from the assist-to-turnover standpoint, becoming sthe ACC’s most improved player from last season to this one, and Robinson gradually gave UVA the most physical presence it desperately needed down the home stretch.

Virginia returns to the tournament in Charlotte for the first time since 2019, when it lost to FSU in the tournament semifinals before going on its miraculous NCAA run of six straight wins and the program’s only national championship. This time, though, UVA doesn’t boast a great resume. This is the Cavaliers’ lowest seed since 2010, and should they beat Georgia Tech for the 21st time in 23 meetings, No. 1 Duke lurks for the winner in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Virginia has advanced to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in 8 of the last 10 years, but doing so this year would demand an inspired upset over the Blue Devils.

Georgia Tech has not scored more than 66 points against Virginia in the last 21 meetings of the series, and has failed to reach 60 in 14 of those.

Come noon, there won’t be any surprises by UVA, Sanchez hinted.

“For sure, you’re going to try to repeat the things that you did well and try to remedy the things that you did poorly,” Sanchez said in reference to the two teams’ only meeting this year, a 75-61 UVA victory. “[Georgia Tech] is going to try to stop us from doing things that we did well. At this point of the year, there aren’t many surprises. We are who we are. You’ve just got to be the best version of yourself and just bring a reckless abandon.”

Virginia fans are wondering exactly which Cavaliers team will show up Wednesday — the good one or the bad one — something that even Sanchez likely can’t predict.