SAN ANTONIO, TX -- UMBC head coach Ryan Odom is the recipient of the 2018 Hugh Durham Award. 

 

The Retrievers finished the season with a school record 25 wins, which included an historic win over the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. UMBC became the first No. 16 seed to ever beat a No. 1 seed, when they stunned Virginia, 74-54.

 

“Ryan Odom has completely changed the landscape at UMBC,” said CollegeInsider.com's Angela Lento. “Prior to his arrival in 2016, the Retrievers averaged just six wins per season over the previous seven seasons. He is one of the best young coaches in America.”

 

After a solid first season, which saw UMBC make a run to the semifinals of the CIT, the Retrievers had a strong campaign in 2017-18. They finished in 2nd place in America East with a 12-4 record. After wins over UMass Lowell and Hartford, UMBC went into Vermont and beat the Catamounts to claim just their second America East Conference title in program history.

 

The appearance in the NCAA Tournament was also the second in school history.

The Hugh Durham Award is presented annually to the nation's top mid-major coach.  In eight seasons as the head coach at Jacksonville University, Durham became the Dolphins' all-time winningest Division I coach (106 wins), making him the only coach in NCAA history to be the winningest coach (pct. or wins) at three different Division I schools.

He built national programs at Florida State where he holds the record for best winning percentage with a 230-95 (.708) record in 12 years. And at Georgia where he is also the all-time winningest coach in the 99-year history of the Bulldog program, having won 297 games in 17 seasons.