Former ODU great Odell Hodge joins Monarchs coaching staff
NORFOLK (WAVY) — New Old Dominion men’s basketball coach Mike Jones made his first public hire Tuesday when it was announced that he is bringing former Monarchs great Odell Hodge to his staff.
Hodge’s official title is special assistant to the head coach.
One of the most popular players in program history, Hodge was named the CAA Player of the Year in 1994 and 1997. He was also named the tournament MVP those same years.
In 1994, the Monarchs lost to James Madison in the CAA title game, but defeated the Dukes in the 1997 championship contest.
Finishing his career at ODU in 1997, Hodge recorded 2,117 points and 1,086 rebounds. He was named to the CAA’s All-Defensive squad in 1997.
He was granted a medical redshirt in 1995 after suffering a torn ACL, the same season that ODU won a conference championship and upset Villanova in the NCAA Tournament.
Hodge and coach Jones were teammates for three seasons at ODU.
“It is always easy and exciting to welcome one of our own back home,” Jones said in a statement provided by ODU. “But what Odell represents is truly unique and our players will benefit greatly. He has run an entire professional organization in Europe and helped some of Belgium’s best players develop. His infectious personality and ability to connect with anyone will make him an immediate superstar in our locker room and in the community.”
After ODU, he played and coached professionally in Turkey and Belgium from 1997-2013. Following his playing career, he coached in the Belgium Professional League for Hasselt Bt for four seasons.
He also worked with Limburg United in the Belgium First Division in a variety of roles, including overseeing the youth academy and helped expand the professional teams.
For the last five years, Hodge worked with GSG Aarschot, serving as sport manager helping lead them to three youth national championships and four senior national championships.
He received his degree in recreation and leisure studies in 1997 and was inducted into the ODU Hall of Fame in 2005. His #33 jersey was retired on February 12, 2010.
“Coming back home, means the world to me,” Hodge said in an ODU news release. “This is the only place that I would have left Europe for. The time was right to come back and working with Coach Jones makes it perfect. I’m the new kid/old man on staff and I am looking forward to learning a lot from these outstanding coaches.”
Hodge and his wife Sofie Ceyssens have two sons: Matthew and Jayden.
Both are highly recruited prep players in New Jersey.
Matthew has signed with Villanova while Jayden’s recruitment is still open.
Fan speculation will immediately turn to the prospect of Hodge bringing one if not both of his sons to ODU to play in the future.
It’s not unheard of. When Jeff Jones hired Bryant Stith as one of his assistants, one of Stith’s first accomplishments was recruiting his sons B.J. and Brandan from UVA and ECU respectively.
Whether or not Odell can bring his sons to Norfolk remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain: A one-time face of the franchise is returning home.
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