The trend of former professional athletes becoming HBCU coaches could hit the basketball world, as Lamar Odom's name has been circulating as a possible coaching candidate. The two-time NBA champion made an appearance at the CIAA tournament weekend. While it's typical for celebrities to partake in the festivities, the tournament is one of the more notable athletic events in HBCU life.
HBCU Gameday reports that an unidentified team has been actively recruiting him to become head coach, with another being interested in his candidacy.
“The two-time NBA champion was recently spotted at the CIAA Tournament and is reportedly being recruited by at least one of the league’s Division II programs. Odom also believed to have interest in another school as well,” HBCU Gameday founder Steven J. Gaither reported.
Currently, three jobs are open: Winston-Salem State, Bowie State, and Shaw University. While Odom doesn't boast coaching experience, he's no stranger to the HBCU space. Odom made his HBCU debut as a member of the first season of BET+ series College Hill: Celebrity Edition. The show was a spinoff of the BET original series that once featured traditional college students navigating HBCU student life.
The first season of College Hill: Celebrity Edition was filmed at Texas Southern, and Odom took an interest in the Tigers' basketball team. In one episode, he spoke with the team, gave the players advice, and indicated that he would love to become a coach one day. The season premiered in 2022 and appeared to have been filmed earlier that year.
Odom recently indicated in a recent interview on The Cousins, hosted by Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, that he wants to coach an HBCU team.
“I would love to. Probably like an HBCU team or something like that because that's one thing about going to college too. I'm mad that I ain't give an HBCU look or visit. You know what I mean? Because I went to Texas Southern to shoot the reality show and I seen the strength man. All these black people learning together and getting the right education, powerful.”
While Odom's candidacy provides an interesting HBCU basketball storyline, he's also navigated a share of personal troubles in the past few years. According to a TMZ Sports report on February 25, Odom recently checked out of rehab. He was part of a 30-day program at Los Angeles-based iRely Recovery center. Odom started the program after his January arrest for DUI, per TMZ Sports.
The NBA standout was arrested in Las Vegas during the incident and was also assessed two traffic violations for improper lane change and failure to maintain lane, as well as driving 41 miles per hour over the speed limit. He's also navigated substance abuse struggles, which is a topic covered in the latest edition of Netflix's Untold docuseries entitled “The Death and Life of Lamar Odom”, which premieres on March 31.
Odom's candidacy will certainly be something to look out for as the offseason rolls on.
