After a rough year with only four wins, Longwood’s women's basketball will look to improve with its 2017 incoming recruiting class, which features a three-star prospect.
Mallory Odell, a Richmond, Va native, has committed to play for both the Longwood women’s basketball and softball teams.
“I’ve been playing both basketball and softball for as long as I can remember. So when the opportunity came about to play both at the collegiate level it was too good to pass up,” said Odell.
ESPN ranked the 6-foot-1-inch athlete as a three-star recruit after averaging 21 twenty one points, 13 thirteen rebounds, six steals and four assists per game in her junior season at Deep Run High School. In the same year, Odell advanced to the final round of cuts for U-16 U.S. national team in Colorado Springs, Co.
“I traveled to Colorado Springs to the Olympic Training Center. It started out with 150 girls, and we did different drills then played several games in front of all the coaches then after each round they began to make cuts,” said Odell. “I made it to the roster of 50 girls. The tryouts last three days, and it was an amazing experience that helped me learn a lot and really improved my game. It was an awesome being able to play against some of the best girls from across the country and really see where I matched up with them.”
Longwood women’s basketball head coach Bill Reinson said, “She has guard skills but I see her more as a four (power forward) because she can play a little bit outside. She’s really smart, she can defend the post and as she gets stronger she can play inside a little more.”
Reinson said Odell will become the first two-sport athlete for Longwood since three women filled in during women’s basketball’s injury-riddled 2011-2012 season.
While Odell had an illustrious basketball career in high school, she held a similar reputation on the softball field.
Longwood softball head coach Kathy Riley said, “When Bill (Reinson) was recruiting her, she sat down with me, and her and her dad had an interest in exploring both possibilities. Looking back, I think it’s one of the reasons why she was more positive about Longwood, since we open in trying to see if she could play two sports.”
Odell said, “I can’t wait to come for the summer and start working out with the basketball team. I am so excited to see what I can do at the next level in both sports, and I am excited to work with both coaches and really work hard to improve my game and contribute to each team as much as I can.”
At Deep Run, Odell played for the varsity softball team since her freshman year, named the captain for both her junior and senior seasons. Over her four years, the two-time all-conference selection she competed in 57 games while sporting a .381 batting average, a .462 on base percentage and driving in 40 RBIs.
Riley added, “She's bringing an all-around athlete, good movement, she has leverage, and she has more foot-quickness than the average softball player that is 6’1” tall. So, she is really bringing athleticism to the table. She’ll also, which really helps her, have a conditioning level that will be superior because of the amount of running she’ll be doing during basketball season.”
Odell will learn under a coach with experience as a two-sport athlete, as Riley said she also played both softball and basketball at East Carolina University.
Odell said, “I think she’ll be super helpful throughout my career since she has experienced it firsthand herself. Hopefully she will share some advice with me on how to juggle everything that’s going on and it’s comforting to know that she can relate to what my experience will be like as a two-sport athlete.”
The two coaches decided how to split time between the two sports equally.
Riley said, “Bill has really helped us out. He’s letting us have her for the beginning of the year up until the start of the basketball season. We can help her in certain ways like with our lifting program, and I do a fair amount of running for our softball players.”
Outside of being a talented two-sport athlete, Odell belongs to the National Honor Society and the Spanish National Honor Society. Her high school GPA sits at a 4.1, and she was accepted into the Cormier Honors College.
Odell said, “School is just as important to me as sports. Both my parents are teachers, and I have an older sister who plays basketball in college as well. I’m currently undecided on my major but I may be interested in environmental studies or environmental law.”
