USC coach Dave Odom to retire after the season ends

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - USC Men's Basketball coach Dave Odom announced Friday he will retire at the end of the season.

Coach Odom and USC Athletics Director Eric Hyman held a press conference at 11:00am Friday where the coach announced his plans to leave the team April 1.

But the coach says all his energy and focus until then will be devoted to coaching the team.

Internet rumors started showing up at around 7:00pm Thursday saying Odom would shortly announce he is retiring at the end of the season.

When asked about the rumors, Odom scoffed and walked away from reporters staking out his Thursday night call-in show.

But several sources and media outlets across the state soon reported Odom would announce his retirement soon.

Even as he announced his plans to leave USC, Odom asked for support -- not for himself, but for the basketball team.

"We can play like we did against Arkansas and Vanderbilt, but to do that we need the support from every fan and every student," said Odom.

Odom had been taking a lot of heat from the fans and media this season as the team has struggled to a 9-8 start.

"If you take me out of the equation, the voices of dissent can give their best energies to helping the basketball team," Odom said during the conference.

He also speculated that if he hadn't retired at the end of the season, he may have been fired.

Odom is in his seventh season with USC, and his overall record at Carolina is 123-94.

There's no word yet on who USC will hire as the new coach, or when the search will start.

The entire press conference will be made available right here at wistv.com.

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Updated by Logan Smith