Trisha Stafford-Odom was announced as North Carolina Central University’s ninth head women’s basketball coach in May of 2017 and enters her sixth season guiding the Eagles in 2022-23. She has a reputation as one of the nation’s top recruiters and has over 10 years of coaching experience, including stints at UNC and Duke.
In 2019-20, Stafford Odom led NCCU to new a NCAA Division I program record 13 wins and a program-best 9-7 league record since rejoining the MEAC in 2011-12. The Eagles advanced to the semifinals of the MEAC Tournament for the first time in program history after defeating N.C. A&T in the quarterfinals, but the Eagles were unable to play in their first ever MEAC semifinal because the season was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Stafford-Odom led the Eagles to their first DI postseason win to cap her second season at NCCU in 2018-19. The ninth-seeded Eagles upset eighth-seeded Delaware State University, 80-64, in the first round of the 2019 MEAC Tournament for the historic program victory.
In her first season at NCCU, Stafford-Odom led the Eagles to a tie for seventh place finish in the MEAC standings after NC Central was picked to finish 13th (last) in the preseason poll.
Stafford-Odom has coached one MEAC Defensive Player of the Year (Anissa Rivera in 2021) and one MEAC Rookie of the Year (Diamond Thomas in 2022) as well as seven All-MEAC honorees -- Rodneysha Martin (2018, 2019), Paulina Afriyie (2019, 2020), Kieche White (2020), Anissa Rivera (2021) and Diamond Thomas (2022) -- in her first five seasons at NCCU (the Eagles did not have a postseason award winner any of the prior three years). She also coached three MEAC All-Rookie Team honorees in Kieche White (2018), Anissa Rivera (2020) and Diamond Thomas (2022) along with two MEAC All-Defensive Team award winners in Anissa Rivera (2021) and Tianna Carter (2022).
The former Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) player and collegiate hall of fame inductee returns to The Triangle to continue her head coaching career after last coaching three seasons at Concordia University Irvine from 2013-2016. Prior to that, Stafford-Odom was a successful assistant coach for four seasons with both the UNC Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils. She began her collegiate coaching career as an assistant for the UCLA Bruins.
Stafford-Odom won the Concordia Eagles first conference championship in 18 years to highlight her time coaching in California. In her second season as head coach, CUI posted a 23-7 record and won the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Championship. She produced two All-Americans and was named the league’s coach of the year.
As an assistant coach at UNC from 2011-2013, Stafford-Odom was a valuable recruiter for the No. 1 nationally-ranked recruiting class in 2013. She aided the development of two WNBA players, two ACC Players of the Year and two ACC Freshmen of the Year while working under the leadership of Naismith Hall of Fame coach Sylvia Hatchell.
Stafford-Odom brought her first No. 1 nationally-ranked recruiting class to Durham when she was an assistant at Duke from 2009-2011. The Blue Devils won the ACC Championship both seasons as she mentored WNBA draft picks, an ACC Tournament MVP, a two-time ACC Academic All-American and a ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
While at UCLA from 2005-2008, Stafford-Odom was the recruiting coordinator for a No. 3 nationally-ranked recruiting class her first season and went on to develop two top-5 WNBA draft picks and the Pac-10 Tournament MVP.
Stafford-Odom was enshrined into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013. She led the Golden Bears to their first two NCAA Tournament appearances. She was a multiple All-Pac-10 honoree as well as a Kodak All-America honorable mention. Stafford-Odom averaged 15.3 points during her four seasons (sixth all-time at Cal) and led the Pac-10 in scoring with over 23 points her senior year.
After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in mass communications in 1992, Stafford-Odom pursued a professional basketball playing career that included a couple years in the WNBA with Houston (2001) and Miami (2002) as well as time in the ABL, NWBL, NBDL, NBA Entertainment League and European leagues.
Stafford-Odom continued her education while coaching at Concordia Irvine and earned a Master of Arts degree in coaching and athletic administration in 2015, and continues to be a student in the assistant coaches program of the NBA.
Trisha is married to DeWayne and the couple has two sons, Amari and Trajen.
