Chance Mallory, one of the top point guards in the class of 2025, capped off a great Saturday for the UVA Basketball program by officially recommitting to the program.
Earlier Saturday, UVA announced Ryan Odom as the next head men’s basketball coach in a press release.
A native of Charlottesville, Mallory initially committed to Virginia in the fall of 2024, but decided to reopen his recruitment a month later after Tony Bennett stepped down as coach.
The 5’11” senior from St. Anne’s-Belfield considered Maryland, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and Virginia as his finalists.
In a near-capacity gymnasium, with many in the gathering donning UVA gear, Mallory, sitting at a table flanked by his mother and father, grandmother and sister, resisted making a grandiose revealing of his selection.
Mallory stood up and said, “I love Charlottesville too much not to stay,” raising his outer shirt to expose a Virginia T-shirt.
The crowd exploded in celebration.
His new coach, Odom, was already in town, and probably heard the applause.
This is simply a massive get for Odom, who has not officially been introduced to the UVA Basketball nation; that comes Monday afternoon in a 3 p.m. press conference at JPJ that is open to the public.
From what we were told Saturday, Mallory was waiting for the official announcement that Odom had been selected as the program’s next head coach.
So, no Odom, no Mallory?
Quite possible.
Here’s Mallory when I asked how much Virginia naming Odom as coach factored in his decision:
“Knowing Coach Odom helped,” Mallory said. “He was a great coach at VCU, and his staff was the first to recruit me when he was down at VCU. I felt like it was right for me and my playing style.”
How about the way he plays? I asked.
Mallory said, “Just that he plays fast, often with smaller guards, but still plays tough defense and actively looks for the open threes. That fits my style perfectly”.
St. Anne’s-Belfield coach Damin Altizer may have tipped his hand regarding Odom and Mallory being linked, saying, “Well, I think there were a lot of BYU fans Thursday.”
Altizer alluded to the Cougars sending VCU home from the NCAA Tournament in an 80-71 win.
That got the Odom-to-UVA process jump-started.
Odom and his VCU staff were in early on Mallory
Altizer revealed that VCU assistant coach Bryce Crawford was one of the first college coaches to visit Mallory at school.
“He (Crawford) was always here, practically every game. He called Chance and me all the time,” Altizer said.
“Having that relationship with their staff had to play into Chance’s decision. He certainly had a solid relationship with them,” Altizer said.
Mallory’s solid 2024 summer circuit and recently completed senior year at STAB saw his stock soar, practically eliminating the Rams for his services.
The Rams, maybe, but not Odom and his staff.
This year at St. Anne’s-Belfield, Mallory averaged 26 points on 51 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent from three.
Last summer, on the AAU circuit, where profound observations are made, Mallory was named MVP of the Under Armour Next Circuit.
Our college basketball insider says the Under Armour League is “where the big boys play, and coaches take notice.”
Happy mom, happy family
The first question I had of Dorie Mallory, Chance’s mother, was how much of a factor UVA naming Odom head coach played in Chance’s decision-making.
“Well, since we already had a good relationship with him (Odom), that was huge. He was recruiting Chance at VCU, so we got to know him and his staff. The connections we made helped a lot, for sure,” Dorie said.
“To be honest, up until about three days ago, none of us knew Chance was a man of few words, unlike his dad. Chance likes to keep us in suspense,” she said.
So, I asked if today’s announcement that Ryan Odom was being named head coach helped make the decision.
“Yes, it was about being comfortable. The whole family is excited; we’ve traveled a lot and are ready to slow down a bit,” she said.
Odom’s roster-building may be his strongest talent
Ryan Odom is returning to Charlottesville after accumulating over a decade of experience as a head coach, most recently an hour away at VCU the past two seasons.
His recently concluded season ended Thursday, but the Rams won the A-10 regular-season and tournament championships, finishing 28-7.
Odom used the transfer portal heavily and effectively this past year with the Rams.
Odom has assembled a roster that has brought immediate success to his teams. Before arriving in Richmond, he worked for two years at Utah State between his VCU and UMBC stints, three programs punching their tickets to the Big Dance within two seasons.
Yes, that UMBC.
For Odom, it boils down to simple roster management.
Odom is a master at inserting players into roles that fit their style.
Somewhere, former UVA coach Terry Holland is all smiles. He finally has a member of the Odom family wearing the big whistle.
Better late than never.
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