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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Owen Odom describes his father’s assistant basketball coaches as “a second family.”
Virginia associate head coach Griff Aldrich is Owen’s godfather. And Owen, a freshman walk-on this season at UVA, has known assistant Bryce Crawford since Owen was in preschool.
“Man, they’re so close,” said Devin Tillis, one of 11 scholarship newcomers on this season’s Cavaliers squad. “Every day you can see they’re having joy in the office. They’re joking around, they’re getting lunch together, they’re going to coach’s crib. They’re so close and I think that trickles down to our team. Especially being a new team, it’s been nice being able to see their relationship so we can grow off of them.”
Crawford, Matt Henry and Darius Theus were all on Ryan Odom’s staff at VCU and made the move 70 miles west across I-64 to UVA with him in the offseason.
Aldrich, a college teammate of Odom’s at Hampden-Sydney, left a head coaching position at Longwood to sit next to Odom on the Cavaliers’ bench.
Now, that group has guided Virginia back to the NCAA Tournament, this year as a 3-seed. It opens play Friday against 14th-seeded Wright State, blending a roster that opened the year as virtual strangers into a cohesive team that’s gone 29-5.
“They are pretty different in their styles, but I feel like they’re of one mind,” Tillis told Cville Right Now during last week’s ACC tournament in Charlotte. “They’re really connected and you can feel it in how they coach.”
Sit behind the UVA bench on gameday and that becomes evident. Odom and Aldrich are stark contrasts in sideline demeanors. Odom stays largely composed and steady, though his fiery side comes out at least a few times a game.
Aldrich, on the other hand, is loud and overstated. Sitting next to Odom on the bench, Aldrich clutches a pen and half-sheet of paper, taking notes, then stuffing the paper in his back pocket.
He focuses on the defense on gamedays and when the staff breaks up scouting opponents.
A former lawyer, the litigator hasn’t left Aldrich, who is the most likely coach to engage in lengthy debates during stoppages with the officials.
Crawford is the Cavaliers resident hype man. Players said he demands effort and that they play with “joy.” But he’s not above challenging the team if they’re not living up to those expectations.
During the ACC semifinals on Friday, UVA and Miami were locked in a close, low scoring game.
A loose ball got away from the Cavaliers and went to Miami, prompting Crawford to bark at the ‘Hoos bench, “That’s got to be our ball. Are you trying to win or not? Are you trying to win or not?”
If there’s a calm in the Cavaliers’ storm, it’s assistant Matt Henry. From his analytical approach to the game down to his studious appearance, complete with eyeglasses, Henry “is really focused on the details,” guard Dallin Hall told Cville Right Now.
Hall and Henry have developed a particularly close relationship this season, with the veteran point guard walking straight to Henry during timeouts to confer about what he’s seeing on the floor, what changes he thinks the coaches should employ.
“We talk a lot about matchups, how to attack certain things, how to take certain things away,” Hall said. “They really value our feedback. Coach Henry is really about telling me to trust my instincts and make decisions out there.”
That’s a two-way street of information that Odom wants from his club.
“You have to have that trust between coaches and players,” Odom said. “And my best teams, we’ve had that. They feel comfortable saying something. And I never take it the wrong way. If you see something, I want you to not be afraid to say it.”
Transfer wing Martin Carrere redshirted for Odom at VCU last season. The French import has had a front row seat for Odom and his staff interact.
“He lets a lot of space to his assistants. He gives them a lot of freedom, a lot of confidence, a lot of trust,” Carrere told Cville Right Now. “They truly each have a role. They definitely are different .and because of the freedom Coach Odom allows them to have, they can really express themselves.”
With Adlrich, Crawford, Henry and Theus – plus a number of other staffers who have been with Odom for multiple years – it’s a total team effort.
The staff shares responsibilities in a way that reflects their close relationships. While many teams assign one assistant coach to scout each upcoming opponent, Odom employs a team approach there, as well.
Aldrich handles scouting the opposing team’s offense, Crawford tackles its defense and Henry breaks down its personnel.
Of course, despite their shared history and tight bonds, it isn’t all smooth sailing. With just over 10 minutes to play in the win over Miami, an 18-point lead had dwindled to 11. All the assistants were standing and shouting instructions to the team at once.
Odom turned and, in maybe his loudest exclamation of the night, told his staff to “stop f—— yelling.”
“That’s what you have when you have a great relationship with someone,” Hall said. “You can be yourself. You can be open and you can reconcile afterward. They’re all very passionate. They understand that. They give each other grace. And I think, you see them when their emotions are high, but they’re best friends off the court.”