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UVA Basketball: Longwood coach Griff Aldrich joining Ryan Odom’s staff

Scott German
griff aldrich
Longwood coach Griff Aldrich. Photo: Longwood Athletics

Longwood coach Griff Aldrich will join new UVA Basketball coach Ryan Odom’s staff as associate head coach.

It’s the first hire for Odom’s coaching staff in Charlottesville.

Aldrich led Longwood to the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearances in 2022 and 2024 and compiled a 127-100 record at the school.

Earlier, it was speculated that Aldrich would be coming to Charlottesville as the first general manager of the men’s basketball program.

For now, it appears that Aldrich will be an x’s and o’s coach, with the role of the GM being defined more specifically at Virginia.


ICYMI


Aldrich, a UVA Law graduate, accepted a role as an assistant coach under his former Hamden-Sydney coach, Tony Shaver, for the 1999-2000 season.

Following that season, Aldrich left coaching and began a 16-year career in law and business, working as a partner at Vinson & Elkins, a law firm based in Houston.

Later, Aldrich built a private oil and gas company in Texas.

His relationship with Odom began when both were undergraduates at Hampden-Sydney.

Odom convinced Aldrich to join him at UMBC in 2018, and, well, you know the rest of that story.

Aldrich was instrumental in moving Longwood from its antiquated gymnasium into the 3,000-seat Joan Perry Brock Center before the start of the 2023 season.

Scott German

Scott German

Scott German covers UVA Athletics for AFP, and is the co-host of “Street Knowledge” podcasts focusing on UVA Athletics with AFP editor Chris Graham. Scott has been around the ‘Hoos his whole life. As a reporter, he was on site for UVA basketball’s Final Fours, in 1981 and 1984, and has covered UVA football in bowl games dating back to its first, the 1984 Peach Bowl.