Xavier offers Rod Odom 2010 6'8 guard

[ezmoney]

Here is some info on him (http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/recruits/player/228/Rod-Odom.php)

[xu15]

It says on his profile he is a forward, which would be much better for us in 2010.

[American X]

Now we just need someone with 'Ram' in his name.

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:FU_4BfEXOMQlmM:http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_QJgOmuroXV4/SKxabarpHgI/AAAAAAAAAQY/KCwD2CdoU5c/s320/car%2Bramrod.jpg

[ballyhoohoo]

http://georgetown.scout.com/a.z?s=433&p=8&c=1&nid=3985031

I did notice his AAU team, connection to Book, correct?

[OX09]

Does Coach just like focusing on backcourt for two years and then frontcourt for two?

Weatherspoon and Latham are two forwards already commited for this class, so this would be a 3rd forward. Last year Sean brought in 5 guards and a center. Next year Parrom, a forward, is commited.

This kid must be doing something right. He has half the Big East on his tail. Go X!

[MADXSTER]

http://www.zagsblog.com/2009/01/05/beas-hamga-keon-lawrence-updates/#more-9827

Xavier became the latest major school to offer a scholarship to 6-8 junior Rod Odom of the Middlesex (Ma.) School, according to Rod Odom Sr.

Odom, who projects as a 6-8 shooting guard, now holds offers from Boston College, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Xavier, West Virginia, William & Mary and Holy Cross, with Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Memphis, Georgia Tech, UConn, PItt, Virginia, Stanford, Princeton, Harvard and Columbia also interested.

[Juice]

A 6-8 shooting guard?! I know that is what the article says but that is some length.
Rivals has him as a SF, but either way, he sounds like an athletic freak.

[MADXSTER]

Wonder if he is related to R.I.'s Lamar Odom

[danaandvictory]

Wonder if he is related to R.I.'s Lamar Odom

Given that he's been offered by half the Ivy League, my guess is no.

[Mark 3 Pointer]

Wonder if he is related to R.I.'s Lamar Odom


The Odom family owes Xavier a break... Lamar's shot to beat Temple in the 1999 A-10 tourney finals single handedly kept Xavier out of the NCAA's. X was a major bubble team that year and the selection committee was only going to allow three A-10 schools in (Temple, GW and Rhody made it). Rhody wins they're in... Rhody losses Xaviers in. BULL SHIT!!!

I was in Vegas this past spring and ran into Lamar at the Ceasars Palace aquarium. He had on a ridiculous rolex, I asked him; "Did Coach Harrick get you that watch?"

I don't think he got it; I did.

It has taken almost 10 years for me to forgive him but I have, since David West lit him up for 40 and 12 the other night (Odom got hurt in the second quarter, so not really).

[ezmoney]

From Scout

There are lots of ways to remain under the radar. Getting snowed out is pretty unique but it's happened to Middlesex and junior standout Rod Odom a few times this season.

Odom's coach, Jamie Gallagher, sees a wealth of potential in his budding standout. Not only has he grown quite a bit in the last year, Odom is on the verge of taking the next step.

"Not only does he have something to prove, he wants to prove it," Gallagher said. "He wants to show what he's got. I think a lot of schools saw him over the summer but now that he's 6-8 … even the mechanics on his jump shot have improved."

Boston College, West Virginia and Seton Hall have offered the New York native. Stanford is showing strong interest. Ditto for Arkansas and Xavier. Georgetown, the Ivy's, Virginia and Memphis are dabbling.

"I should be going down and visiting schools during March break," Odom said. He'd like to see Stanford, Seton Hall and West Virginia. Memphis and UVA are on his list of must-see schools as well.

"Right now he gets to the rim," Gallagher said. "He's really slick and he can attack. With our other post guy we run high/low but in the open court when he's going to the rim that's what he does best."

[MADXSTER]

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/article/680/Weekend-News-Notes.php

• Rod Odom continues to be a priority recruit for lots of big time colleges. Xavier became the most recent school to offer him a scholarship a couple of weeks ago joining Boston College, West Virginia, Seton Hall, Rutgers, and Holy Cross. The coaching staff from BC has been particularly attentive, being present at three different games this month. Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt and assistant John O’Connell were both at Middlesex’ practice on Tuesday night and Virginia and Villanova were up last week to catch a game. Harvard, Stanford, Providence, and Memphis were all at the Middlesex/St. Mark’s game 10 days ago.

[UCGRAD4X]

The coaching staff from BC have been particularly attentive.

Is this any surprise since Middlesex is practically in Boston?

[XU05and07]

Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia!?!

You can get a quality education and a great basketball experience by coming to X

[Cincy Muskie]

Was Rod at the game today?

[xuab]

Was Rod at the game today?

Yes. (extra characters)

[X Factor]

Anyone know if we're recruiting this kid? I seem to recall seeing his name thrown around here before. He was unranked and now with Rivals updating their 2010 class, he is #44.

He's 6'8 and has guard type skills from what I've read. I read an article recently where his Dad said he really liked Xavier. The kid is super smart and has a lot of Ivy League offers, but the big boys will be after him now.

[kyxu]

I think Odom was mostly getting attention under the Miller regime, but not so much with Mack anymore.

[AviatorX]

Anyone know if we're recruiting this kid? I seem to recall seeing his name thrown around here before. He was unranked and now with Rivals updating their 2010 class, he is #44.

He's 6'8 and has guard type skills from what I've read. I read an article recently where his Dad said he really liked Xavier. The kid is super smart and has a lot of Ivy League offers, but the big boys will be after him now.

Do you think the "big boys" base when to target someone off of rivals and scout rankings?

[Juice]

ROD ODOM VISITS AT MIDDLESEX

Sept. 11 – Georgia Tech (morning)

Sept. 11 – West Virginia (afternoon)

Sept. 11 – Arizona (evening)

Sept. 13 – Harvard (morning)

Sept. 13 – Vanderbilt (afternoon)

http://www.zagsblog.com/2009/09/09/rod-odom-cory-joseph-visits/

Obviously X hasn't been involved with him for awhile but I thought I would just update the thread for anyone who was interested.

[wkrq59]

Question. Xavier's recruiting for 2010 is completed, right? Griffin, Latham, Canty and Martin. We only have four ships available. Xavier couldn't take this guy if they wanted.:D:D

[jco17]

Rod Odom is choosing between Vany and Arizona very shortly. Supposedly withing a day or two.

[MuskieCinci]

I would be surprised if it wasn't AZ. Haven't they been the leader for a while?

[More Cowbell]

Committed to Arizona

[Juice]

Anywhere but there. This kid looks like an athletic freak.

[jco17]

It was actually a much closer recruitment than the national media gave credit for. It took a call from Archie and Book the night before the announcement to really make Rod decide to be a Wildcat. He's a very smart kid and he listened to every coach that tried to recruit him. He went about the process very well and left me very impressed.

[More Cowbell]

De-committed from AZ - going to Vanderbilt. Can't say I'm upset.

http://community.foxsports.com/goodmanonfox/blog/2009/10/26/rod_odom_to_vandy_after_decommitting_from_arizona

[X Factor]

Odom committed a few weeks ago, decommits, and is now headed to Vandy.

How's that Lexus working out for ya Sean?

[Juice]

Odom committed a few weeks ago, decommits, and is now headed to Vandy.

How's that Lexus working out for ya Sean?

If X is a Buick, Vandy must be a cash for clunker trade in car.

[Xman95]

He went about the process very well and left me very impressed.

Still impressed?

Honestly, AZ is better off having Odom do this now. It would only make things worse if he was at a school really far from home and he had no desire to be there. That's bad for the kid, bad for the program.

What I'm wondering now is whether this is a sign that pulling kids from the east is going to be harder than Sean anticipated.

[wkrq59]

Damned good point Xman. I suspect reality is really beginning to set in.

[jco17]

Still impressed?

Honestly, AZ is better off having Odom do this now. It would only make things worse if he was at a school really far from home and he had no desire to be there. That's bad for the kid, bad for the program.

What I'm wondering now is whether this is a sign that pulling kids from the east is going to be harder than Sean anticipated.

Rod is a great kid and I have zero hard feelings. The kid was not sold on academics and playing time was definately not a given. He likes Arizona, but he loves Vandy's academics. He wasn't sneaky about what went on, he notified our coaching staff he was wavering, and after a conversation they decided to part ways. I wish Rod the best of luck at Vandy, but he's a smart kid and will do well in whatever he attempts. I'm still impressed with Rod. It's impossible to not like Odom.

Fortunately we are set at the 3 and that is where Odom wanted to play in college, so it doesn't hurt as much. Our needs in the 2010 class are PG and Center. I don't think we get Payne, but I do think we will get Ray McCallum. If we have a class of McCallum and Bejarano, the 2010 class is a success in my opinion. There's still a ways to go in the 2010 class. As for East Coast recruits, we still have Sidiki Johnson commited in 2011 and are one of the favorites to land Angel Nunez another New Yorker.

If we are gonna be a successful program, we're gonna have to recruit the entire country, and time will tell if we are able to do that well. Winning takes care of recruiting and we haven't won any games with Miller. He's gonna have to prove himself before these elite prospects put their career's in his hands.

[principal]

The kid was not sold on academics and playing time was definately not a given. He likes Arizona, but he loves Vandy's academics. He wasn't sneaky about what went on, he notified our coaching staff he was wavering, and after a conversation they decided to part ways.

So in some ways he's like the anti-Sean Miller?

[bobbiemcgee]

Maybe it's just me, but shouldn't AZ be getting some 5 stars guys? Seems like they are still recruiting around the Buick X level when they should be out flanking schools like Ky, Kansas and Duke where the coaches all make millions and have 10 times the resources as X. Seems like we have recruited 6 or 7 guys above the #122 Parrom "Lexus man" and the 09 class doesn't compare with the talent coming in 10 and 11. Just saying....they should be getting guys like Wall and Knight - Lexus guys.

[Cincy Muskie]

Things will get even tougher for Miller when Book Richardson heads back east. I heard it wasn't an easy sell to Book and his family to head out west. I do find it ironic the level of X recruiting has gone up since Miller headed to UA.

[jco17]

Maybe it's just me, but shouldn't AZ be getting some 5 stars guys? Seems like they are still recruiting around the Buick X level when they should be out flanking schools like Ky, Kansas and Duke where the coaches all make millions and have 10 times the resources as X. Seems like we have recruited 6 or 7 guys above the #122 Parrom "Lexus man" and the 09 class doesn't compare with the talent coming in 10 and 11. Just saying....they should be getting guys like Wall and Knight - Lexus guys.

Nah, it's early and it's tough to go up against teams like MSU, UK, Ku, Duke, Ohio State, Texas, and UCLA for recruits after you've had 4 coaches in the last four years. There's only so many 5* players in every class and a ton of competition. Some of these players have 2-3 year relationships with the other coaching staffs and that is really hard to overcome. I think 2011 will be a great class for us.

We still have a great shot at landing Ray McCallum and we've already have Daniel Bejarano in that class who was a 5* until after the summer when his father was murdered. If we get Ray, we will have a very good two man class and fill our major need which is pg. We also still have a shot to get Doron Lamb who isn't planning on signing any time soon and wants to visit us and Uconn before he decides. At least that is what he and his fahter Calvin are saying.

McCallum will be in town for our Red/Blue game this weekend. Then he will visit Florida. After those two visits, he may make his decision. From everything I'm hearing it's gonna come down to UCLA and Arizona. UCLA is already recruiting back up plans at the PG, so they aren't overly confident in landing Ray.

Like I said before, winning takes care of almost everything, and X has been winning. That's why you guys are getting better recruits to your school. You're already a great school to go to for acadmics in a big city, but winning always makes the choice even easier. Thanks for the replies guys, I appreciate the conversation.

[jco17]

Things will get even tougher for Miller when Book Richardson heads back east. I heard it wasn't an easy sell to Book and his family to head out west. I do find it ironic the level of X recruiting has gone up since Miller headed to UA.

Hopefully, that isn't anytime soon. I love Book, I think he's great. If he does head back east, hopefully he comes back to Xavier. That would be pretty cool.

[xunorm]

Hopefully, that isn't anytime soon. I love Book, I think he's great. If he does head back east, hopefully he comes back to Xavier. That would be pretty cool.

I don't think he's coming back to X just because there is no room for him. Personally, I thought Book was great, but the main reason his was brought in was to establish a pipeline in the NY area. With Steele, Bino, and Kelsey, we have locked in much recruiting success across the mid and south Atlantic coast and in Indiana (which is a hotbed for the next couple years). I just don't see any room for Book on this staff if he wanted to come back. Plain and simple, Miller has a good staff, but he might be better off getting a west coast connection or two.

[bobbiemcgee]

I don't think he's coming back to X just because there is no room for him. Personally, I thought Book was great, but the main reason his was brought in was to establish a pipeline in the NY area. With Steele, Bino, and Kelsey, we have locked in much recruiting success across the mid and south Atlantic coast and in Indiana (which is a hotbed for the next couple years). I just don't see any room for Book on this staff if he wanted to come back. Plain and simple, Miller has a good staff, but he might be better off getting a west coast connection or two.

yup, we building a recruiting juggernaut with these guys in a very short time, one great pickup after another. We have Indiana, Ohio and most of the South covered like a glove.

[jco17]

I don't think he's coming back to X just because there is no room for him. Personally, I thought Book was great, but the main reason his was brought in was to establish a pipeline in the NY area. With Steele, Bino, and Kelsey, we have locked in much recruiting success across the mid and south Atlantic coast and in Indiana (which is a hotbed for the next couple years). I just don't see any room for Book on this staff if he wanted to come back. Plain and simple, Miller has a good staff, but he might be better off getting a west coast connection or two.

Archie Miller actually has west coast recruiting connections from being an assistant at ASU. Connections are being made, but it takes a little time. The staff is very charismatic and will not have too much trouble if they win. I'm glad X brought in new coaches with strong recruiting ties. Miller has been very smart with making hires that will strengthen connections in different areas. Bino has those strong B-more ties if I'm not mistaken. Great area to have those strong connections. Xavier seems to be great at making their program better.

[Cincy Muskie]

I would never classify Sean Miller as charismatic. Good coach? Certainly. Charismatic? Not so sure.

But that is why he hired a guy like Book Richardson. Book is a dynamic personality and recruiter. Best of luck to them this coming season and future years.

[Xman95]

I would never classify Sean Miller as charismatic. Good coach? Certainly. Charismatic? Not so sure.

But that is why he hired a guy like Book Richardson. Book is a dynamic personality and recruiter. Best of luck to them this coming season and future years.

I think Sean is charismatic when it comes to players. They get a feel for how much he wants to win and he's great at selling himself, his team and his system. Don't be fooled by the person we saw/heard when it came to the coach's show and dealing with the media. He didn't get recruits by lacking charisma.