Dave Odom was a successful college basketball coach. His teams won 406 games during his tenures at the head of the East Carolina, Wake Forest and South Carolina programs. He took teams to the NCAA tournament nine times, including a run to the Elite Eight at Wake in 1996.
And while he might not consider it a compliment, Odom was one of the most successful coaches in history in the NIT. The NIT in the early years of college basketball was considered THE tournament, but eventually surrendered the spotlight to the NCAA, and became the "also ran" tournament for teams that did not make the Big Dance.
When you consider that teams do not "aim" to make the NIT, and that it is virtually impossible to predict who will be there, since they did not get to issue their invitations until the NCAA got through, having consistent success in the NIT is a very "iffy" proposition. Most major conference programs would consider it a let-down to have to go to the NIT when they were hoping for the NCAA, so it is difficult to get the team motivated for the secondary tournament.
However, Odom seemed to have had that knack for getting teams up for the NIT. He won the championship once at Wake Forest and twice at South Carolina, plus an additional runner-up spot at SC. Not many coaches, if any, can point to more success in the NIT.
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