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LOGAN — When Craig Smith bolted for Utah in March 2021, then Utah State athletic director John Hartwell made a meticulous claim as he prepared for a search for the new Aggies head basketball coach.
"I would rather have high levels of success and have to repeat this process maybe every three to four years than have mediocrity or less than mediocre and have the same person in place for 10 years," Hartwell told reporters.
Two years later, Hartwell's prediction came to fruition — albeit sooner than even he anticipated. Two years after moving out west, and weeks after leading Utah State back to the NCAA Tournament, Ryan Odom moved on from his Aggies blue half zips for the VCU black and gold.
With uncertainty looming over the university — President Noelle Cockett steps down at the end of June, and Jerry Bovee is still wearing the interim athletic director tag — Utah State embarks upon its second coaching search in three years.
Odom's lateral move was about more than money — Utah State had a contract on the table that would have made Odom the highest paid Aggies coach of all time — but, by every public indication, he was ready to move on.
Just days after Utah State was bounced by Missouri in the first round of the tournament, Odom interviewed for the South Florida job — a place that hasn't had a winning season in five years — and nearly took it. When VCU coach Mike Rhoades was hired by Penn State, the mid-major power in a state he calls home opened up, Odom jumped on the opportunity.
In an interview with The Zone last week, Bovee said Odom told him he felt it was "a bigger transition than he thought it would be coming from the east coast to Logan." In Odom's 15 minute speech during his introductory press conference at VCU on Friday, he said nothing about his time at Utah State, nor thanked anybody from the program.
Even Smith, who made a departure down south to Utah for a massive pay raise two years ago, thanked the Aggies fans by saying: "From the second we arrived in Cache Valley, I felt like we were home. We've met so many amazing people and have developed friendships that will last a lifetime."
— Craig Smith (@coachcsmith_) April 1, 2021
Don't expect Aggies fans to get the same closure from Odom.
Meanwhile, Bovee now faces his biggest decision yet as the interim athletic director. Can he keep the basketball program moving forward?
"(Odom) did a great job maintaining the winning culture we are accustomed to," Bovee said in a statement. "We have a deep and talented roster returning next year that are made up of high-character individuals, and our priorities start and end with them.
"This is a very desirable job that has already drawn national interest, and we will work as quickly and efficiently as possible to assure our next head coach is equipped to build upon all our successes, which includes 23 NCAA Tournament appearances — 11 since the turn of the century."
Though most of Odom's staff followed him to Richmond, including assistant coaches Bryce Crawford and Matt Henry, his head assistant, Nate Dixon, has stuck around Logan and was named the interim head coach by Bovee last week. Dixon, a dogged recruiter that is well-respected in the industry, has enjoyed living in Cache Valley and is being considered for the position.
Bovee was at the Final Four in Houston over the weekend as he interviewed other candidates, and a number of names have been rumored, but the search has stayed well insulated.
A name to consider is Danny Sprinkle, Montana State's head coach that's taken the Bobcats to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. Sprinkle fits the criteria of a coach Aggies fans would crave — a lifelong west coast guy who can recruit the intermountain area and won't be taken aback by the Cache Valley lifestyle.
Other names thrown around have been San Jose State's Tim Miles and former Marquette head coach and Park City resident Steve Wojciechowski. Bovee is doing his due-diligence, though.
Whoever gets the job will have his hands full from the get-go. Not only do the Aggies lose the production of graduated forwards Taylor Funk and Dan Akin, but two of Utah State's starting guards, Max Shulga and Sean Bairstow, announced via Instagram they were entering the transfer portal. If senior center Trevin Dorius, who has a year of eligibility left, chooses to hang it up, five of Utah State's six top contributors will have moved on.
If recent history is any indication, though, Utah State is a strong enough program that good coaching can turn the team into winners in a hurry.
After four underwhelming years under Tim Duryea, Smith was hired in 2018. He kept junior guard Sam Merrill on the roster, brought in lanky Portuguese freshman Neemias Queta, and proceeded to win the Mountain West championship.
This past season, with Utah State picked eighth in the Mountain West preseason poll, the Aggies got big jumps from Steven Ashworth and Shulga, and were complemented by the additions of Funk and Akin to help Odom lift the Aggies to a second-place finish and at-large bid in the tournament.
Name, image, and likeness, and the transfer portal further complicates things, but how the new coach handles both may indicate their success. Bovee's job is to find the guy that is both willing to lay down his roots in Logan and is capable of keeping the Aggies a winner.
