UCLA Coaches Lost Confidence in Him, Departed Odom Says

Rodney Odom, regarded by one recruiting publication as among the nation’s top 50 prospects when he signed with UCLA two years ago, said that he left the Bruin basketball program last week because he believed that the coaches lost confidence in him.

“I think I could have competed at UCLA and if not started this year, started by my junior or senior year,” said Odom, a 6-foot-11 center from Kingwood, Tex. “I just didn’t feel I was going to progress as a player. I didn’t feel like Coach (Jim Harrick) expected enough out of me. I want to go to a college where the coach is going to expect something of me and have confidence in me. That’s mainly why I transferred.”

When Southland recruits Ed O’Bannon and Shon Tarver announced this month that they will enroll at UCLA this year, Odom said, “It just kind of made me think that I wasn’t in the picture. I just didn’t feel like I fit in very well.”

Odom said Monday that he will transfer to San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Tex. Signed by UCLA after making recruiting trips to Notre Dame, Syracuse, North Carolina Charlotte and Auburn, Odom never played for the Bruins, red-shirting as a freshman. He averaged 20.4 points and 11.8 rebounds as a senior at Kingwood High.

Odom said he plans to transfer to a major college next summer.

“Where I go, I’m going to know that the coach has confidence in me,” he said. “I’m going to know the coach is going to interact with me as a person--not only as a basketball player.”

Harrick was out of town Monday and unavailable for comment.

Odom is the third player to leave the Bruin program this summer, following Darrin Dafney, who transferred to Drake, and Kevin Williams, who said that he will remain at UCLA but will forgo his final season of eligibility.