UVA Basketball: Ryan Odom names staffer Matt Hart to GM role

UVA Basketball coach Ryan Odom is finally embracing the modern age, signaled by the announcement on Monday that he has promoted Matt Hart to the title of general manager/director of player development.

Hart was the director of analytics for Odom in their first year at Virginia; he had served in that role when Odom was at VCU from 2023-2025.

A press release from UVA Athletics spelled out the job:

“Hart will work closely with Odom on key responsibilities including roster construction, talent evaluation, resource allocation and transfer portal management. In addition, Hart will oversee UVA’s player development efforts.”

Unofficially, Griff Aldrich had taken on those responsibilities while also serving as Odom’s associate head coach in Odom’s first season at UVA.

Aldrich left in March to take the head coach job at Pepperdine.

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ICYMI

• UVA Basketball: Griff Aldrich leaving Odom’s staff for Pepperdine job

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Hart is a 2017 George Washington alum, and also has an MBA from Purdue Global.

He played two college seasons at Hamilton College, a D3 school, where he averaged 18.0 points per game; at GW, he averaged 4.0 points per game over his two-season run.

After graduation, Hart played professionally overseas for parts of three seasons, around a year at George Washington as director of player development/director of video operations, before going full-time into the coaching and administrative side.

Hart was an assistant coach at Daemen University, a D2 school, in the 2021-2022 season, before landing with Odom as a grad student manager at Utah State in 2022-23

“I am thrilled to promote Matt as the first general manager/director of player development in the history of Virginia Men’s Basketball,” Odom said, in a quote from the press release sent out by UVA Athletics today.

“His leadership, experience, and forward-thinking approach have already made a significant impact as we navigate the changing landscape of college basketball,” Odom said. “Matt’s vision and deep understanding of the game will be invaluable in shaping the future of our program and strengthening our culture both on and off the court.”

Here’s Hart, from the PR:

“I am extremely grateful and excited for this opportunity given to me by Coach Odom and Director of Athletics Carla Williams,” Hart said. “Virginia’s basketball tradition speaks for itself. My goal is to honor, protect and advance that tradition by finding the right players who fit our culture and this prestigious institution.”