The first of two America East (AE) men’s basketball coaching vacancies has officially been filled. On Thursday afternoon, UMBC formally introduced Ryan Odom as its next head coach.

Odom comes to the AE school via Lenoir-Rhyne University in North Carolina. Odom served one season at the helm of the Division II program, guiding Lenoir-Rhyne to its first appearance in the NCAA Division II Regional Final and a 21-10 overall record. Lenoir-Rhyne won just eight games in 2014-15, the season prior to Odom’s arrival. From 2010-14, Odom served as an assistant at UNC-Charlotte, a Conference USA affiliate, and in 2015 was elevated to the position of associate head coach. In January 2015, Odom served as interim head coach at the school, where he registered an 8-11 record.

“I think [UMBC] is a sleeping giant,” Odom said at his introductory press conference, made available by the school on YouTube. “High academics, honors University … You can attract high-quality people, achievers who want to do really, really well, not only in basketball, but in life.”

Former UMBC coach Aki Thomas was fired in March after compiling a 28-95, 15-51 AE record over the last four seasons. Odom inherits a team that finished in eighth place in the conference last season and never finished higher than sixth in the America East during Thomas’ tenure. However, UMBC is set to return one of the most explosive offensive backcourts in the AE next season in rising junior guards Rodney Elliott and Jairus Lyles. Elliott, the 2013-14 AE Rookie of the Year, averaged 12.8 points per game in 2015-16, while Lyles, a second team All-Conference member, took the AE by storm, pouring in 23.0 points per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the floor.