Old Dominion legend Odell Hodge returns to Norfolk to serve as special assistant to the head coach, his former ODU teammate Mike Jones.
 
“It is always easy and exciting to welcome one of our own back home. But what Odell represents is truly unique and our players will benefit greatly. He has run an entire professional organization in Europe and helped some of Belgium’s best players develop. His infectious personality and ability to connect with anyone will make him an immediate superstar in our locker room and in the community,” said Jones.
 
Hodge finished his career as one of only four Virginia Division I collegians to score over 2,000 career points and haul in over 1,000 career rebounds. He was named CAA Player Of the Year and Tournament MVP in 1994 and 1997.
 
Finishing his career at ODU in 1997, Hodge recorded 2,117 points and 1,086 rebounds. He was named to the CAA's All-Defensive squad in 1997 and ranks 14th all-time in CAA scoring, fourth in career blocked shots with 286, and fifth in CAA history in rebounds.
 
In 1997, he was the recipient of the CAA's prestigious Dean Ehlers Award for his sportsmanship, leadership and community service. He was very active as a student athlete in the Monarch Reachout program.
 
“Coming back home, means the world to me. This is the only place that I would have left Europe for. The time was right to come back and working with Coach Jones makes it perfect. I'm the new kid/old man on staff and I am looking forward to learning a lot from these outstanding coaches,” said Hodge.
 
As a senior, Hodge helped lead the Monarchs to a 22-11 record, capturing the CAA crown and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. He also earned Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American honors and NABC first team All-District honors in 1997. Hodge was the CAA Rookie of the Year in 1993 and a freshman All-American. He missed the 1995 season with a knee injury.
 
The Martinsville, Virginia native was also the all-time scorer in Virginia High School league history when he finished at Laurel Park High School. He scored 786 points in his senior season which ranked among the top 25 all-time in the state of Virginia when he graduated.
 
After ODU, he played and coached professionally in Turkey and Belgium from 1997-2013. Following his playing career, he coached in the Belgium Professional League for Hasselt Bt for four seasons. He also worked with Limburg United in the Belgium First Division in a variety of roles including overseeing the youth academy and helped expand the professional teams.
 
For the last five years, Hodge worked with GSG Aarschot serving as sport manager helping lead them to three youth national championships and four senior national championships.
 
He received his degree in recreation and leisure studies in 1997 and was inducted into the ODU Hall of Fame in 2005. His #33 jersey was retired on February 12, 2010.
 
Hodge and his wife Sofie Ceyssens have two sons: Matthew and Jayden.

Jamal Robinson, now in his third season with the Monarchs, joined the Old Dominion coaching staff in August of 2022 after two years at LaSalle University.

"Jamal is recognized within the coaching profession as a top skill development instructor.  In addition, his work with various elite basketball camps, including the Nike Pre-Draft Camp has enabled Jamal to establish a strong network of recruiting ties at the grassroots level," Jones said. "His experiences will pay big dividends for the ODU Basketball Program.  I am extremely excited to welcome J-Rob to our family."
 
Robinson, who played for Jones at the University of Virginia, enjoyed a 13-year professional career that included several teams in the National Basketball Association.

The 2022-23 season saw the Monarchs rejoin the Sun Belt Conference and finished 19-12 overall and 11-7 in league play. ODU ended the regular season knocking off the top two teams heading into the final weekend, Southern Miss and Marshall, at home. The Monarchs played their share of tight contests going 6-2 in games decided by three points or less, including an Imo Essien buzzer-beating jumper at Texas State for a one-point win. Chaunce Jenkins was named to the Second Team All-Sun Belt Conference squad.

A native of Jamaica, Queens, New York, Robinson joined the collegiate ranks as an assistant at Hampton in 2018.  With the Pirates, they advanced to the Big South Conference finals in 2020 after defeating the top-seeded Radford Highlanders on their home court in the semifinals.
 
Prior to Hampton he had a successful stint as a developmental skill instructor. For almost a decade, Robinson worked directly with various elite basketball camps, including the Nike Pre-Draft Camp, along with assisting in the development of high school, college and professional basketball players. 

Before that, Robinson enjoyed a massive amount of success as a player for over 13 years playing professionally at the highest levels in the world.

Robinson trained with various NBA teams, including the Portland Trailblazers, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and the Washington Wizards, before ultimately signing a two-year contract with the Miami Heat. He would also play in the CBA, the NBA Developmental League and internationally for over a decade, winning multiple league championships and individual accolades.

As a college player at Virginia, Robinson received ACC All-Tournament Team accolades as a freshman after helping the Cavaliers to the title game. He averaged 16.0 points per game over three contests, totaling 19 points and scoring the game-winning layup in a victory over No. 1 Duke. UVa would make the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 1994 and advance to the Elite Eight of the 1995 NCAA Tournament during his sophomore season.

A graduate of Monsignor McClancy in Queens, Robinson was named First Team All-City by the New York Daily News, the New York Post, and Newsday. Following his senior year, he was selected to play for the U.S. All-Stars in the Capital City High School All-American Game at the University of Maryland's Cole Fieldhouse against the Maryland All-Stars. Robinson became the first Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School alum to ever play in the NBA.
 
"I am looking forward to becoming a part of the Old Dominion staff and learn more from my college coach Jeff Jones," said Robinson.  "Old Dominion is a proud program, and I am excited to work along with the other coaches to help our players reach their potential on and off the court."

Ryan Nadeau joins the Old Dominion family after serving on the men’s basketball staff at Virginia Tech for six seasons.
 
"Ryan comes to our program with a wealth of experience and knowledge. From his time with Michigan State to his time with the Chicago Bulls, and the last few years at Virginia Tech, Ryan has been a part of winning basketball at the highest levels. His ability and expertise spreads across every facet of a program," said Jones.
 
In Blacksburg, his responsibilities included: creating scouting reports with individual and opponent film breakdown, assisting in on-campus recruiting, overseeing the student manager program, while implementing and creating the daily basketball calendar. He also took on an increased role  in how players used technology to their advantage in film analysis, schedules, as well as creating specific individual programs for them.
 
During his tenure in Blacksburg, the Hokies made three NCAA Tournament appearances including a Sweet 16 spot in 2019.
 
"Ryan hails from the talent-rich Detroit area and his connections there and through the Midwest will be very valuable to our recruiting efforts. Skill development and game preparation are areas that he excels. In terms of establishing a winning culture, it does not get better that Coach Nadeau," Jones added.
 
He came to Tech after serving as a Basketball Operations Associate for two years with the Chicago Bulls. With the Bulls, Nadeau worked closely with the coaches, helping with video breakdown, scouting reports and player development by tailoring workouts to specific players.

Nadeau graduated from Michigan State in 2016 with a degree in economics. He was a student manager for the men's basketball team where he worked closely with video breakdown and assisted the coaching staff with numerous other duties.
 
Nadeau is married to the former Rosanna Reynolds, and the couple has three boys.

James Robinson moves to Old Dominion after a two-year stint on the staff at Delaware.

Robinson joined the Blue Hens after a six-year professional playing career in Europe. In his two years with Delaware, the Blue Hens went 36-30 and advanced to the second round of the Coastal Athletic Association Tournament each year.
 
A standout at the University of Pittsburgh from 2012-2016, Robinson started 135 of his 136 career games as the point guard for the Panthers and still holds the ACC record for career assist to turnover ratio at 3.64 to one.  A native of Prince George's County, Maryland, Robinson tallied 1,115 career points and 604 assists, while garnering All-Academic honors in both the ACC and Big East.
  
Prior to his college career at Pitt, Robinson was a dominant player at DeMatha Catholic High School in Maryland where he played for Jones. He was a two-time USA Basketball international gold medalist, having played for the United States U18 team in both 2012 and 2013.
 
At the time of his graduation, Robinson was the all-time winningest player in DeMatha history with 120 career victories as he guided the Stags to three WCAC titles, three city championships, and two Alhambra Tournament titles. He was named a First Team All-MET selection by the Washington Post as a senior after posting 11.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game. Robinson aided the squad to the no. 1 state ranking and no. 11 in the nation according to USA Today.

Hamilton joins the Old Dominion staff after a nine-year run at Hampton University. He saw the Pirates change conferences three times in a five-year span going from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, to the Big South, to the Coastal Athletic Association.  Hamilton has served in a variety of roles with the Pirates from operations director, to assistant coach, to associate coach and recruiting coordinator.

He joined the Pirates in 2015 as the director of operations. After a year in that position, he was promoted to a full-time assistant coach. In 2022, he was elevated to associate head coach and continued to serve in his role as recruiting coordinator for the Pirates.

Hamilton will play a major role in the planning and execution of the day-to-day basketball operations, student-athlete relationships, player development, recruiting, arranging travel, scouting reports, and helping ensure the academic success of ODU’s student-athletes.

He began his career when he was just 16 years old, serving as an assistant coach at Marvin Ridge High School in his home town of Waxhaw, North Carolina. A student manager during his college days at Appalachian State, he also assisted with player development, film editing, scouting reports, practice setup and on-campus recruiting visits. Hamilton earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Appalachian State and a master’s degree in sports administration from Hampton in 2017.

Following graduation from App State, he served as an assistant coach and head JV coach at Lees-McRae. With the men’s team, he was responsible for player development, recruiting, scheduling, scouting, and academics. As head JV coach, he was in charge of in-game coaching and organizing and running practices. While Hamilton was at Lees-McRae, the school set a program record for wins in a season. He coached two All-Conference players during his tenure, including Jaquise Moore – who led all of Division II in steals with 3.3 per contest.

While at Hampton, the Pirates made four postseason tournaments. They won the MEAC regular season and tournament title in 2015-16, qualified for the CBI Tournament in 2016-17, won the MEAC regular season and made the NIT Tournament in 2017-18 and earned a CIT Tournament bid in 2018-19.

Aidan Brami comes to Old Dominion after working with at Maryland for five years throughout his undergrad and graduate school time.  He served as a student manager as an undergrad and was a graduate assistant in the 2023-24 season.
 
He held a variety of roles with the Terrapins from assisting the staff with daily operations, video work, assisting with player workouts, scouting, travel operations. Brami also worked with the summer camps at Maryland, serving as a commissioner
 
Maryland made the NCAA Tournament, advancing a round, twice and won the Big 10 Regular Season crown in 2020 during his time.
 
He graduated with a bachelor’s in real estate and the built environment in 2023 and will graduate this May with his master’s in management studies.