Embedded with the program in his youth and the choreographer of its most devastating setback, Ryan Odom is poised to become the University of Virginia’s next basketball coach.

Barring an 11th-hour negotiations snag, UVA will announce Odom’s appointment in the coming days, with an introductory news conference early next week, according to sources and an ESPN report.

Odom, 50, is set to arrive with 10-plus seasons of head-coaching experience, the last two with VCU, where this year his Rams won the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season and tournament championships to earn an NCAA Tournament bid. VCU lost to Brigham Young in the first round Thursday in Denver.

Unlike UVA basketball’s most recent hire, Tony Bennett in 2009, Odom was the subject of immediate media and fan speculation when Bennett abruptly retired in October, thrusting Ron Sanchez into an interim head-coaching role for 2024-25.

Odom moved to Charlottesville with his family at age 7, when his father, Dave, joined Terry Holland’s staff prior to Ralph Sampson’s senior year. The elder Odom worked at Virginia from 1982-89, and Ryan often rode his bicycle to University Hall for practice after school.

During the Odom family’s seven seasons in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers made five NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the 1984 Final Four and the Elite Eight in ’83 and ’89.

The program Odom inherits experienced even greater heights under Bennett, reaching 10 NCAA Tournaments in 15 years — the pandemic cost UVA another bid — and winning the 2019 national championship. But the Cavaliers are fresh off a 15-17 finish, their first losing record since Bennett’s 2009-10 debut.

Virginia’s roster requires more athleticism, and through domestic and international recruiting, plus transfer acquisitions, Odom has assembled dynamic teams at every stop.

After a stellar playing career for Division III Hampden-Sydney under Tony Shaver, Odom followed his dad’s career path. He worked for Seth Greenberg at South Florida and Virginia Tech, and for former Cavaliers coach Jeff Jones at American, before a partial season as Charlotte’s interim coach in 2014-15.

He’s been a head coach since, at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne, UMBC, Utah State and VCU, compiling a 222-127 record that includes his 8-11 interim stint, and guiding each program to an NCAA Tournament.

Odom’s signature coaching moment unfolded March 16, 2018, when his UMBC Retrievers routed Virginia 74-54 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to become the first No. 16 regional seed to topple a No. 1.

Assisted by Parker Executive Search, Cavaliers athletic director Carla Williams vetted a host of sitting head coaches, including New Mexico’s Richard Pitino, Grand Canyon’s Bryce Drew and Samford’s Bucky McMillan.

Odom is the sixth consecutive VCU coach to exit for a power-conference job after steering the Rams to at least one NCAA Tournament, an exceptional run of success. The others were Jeff Capel to Oklahoma, Anthony Grant to Alabama, Shaka Smart to Texas, Will Wade to LSU and Mike Rhoades to Penn State.