Bill Odell
Bill Odell is in his 14th year as the director of athletics at Azusa Pacific. He was named Azusa Pacific’s third director of athletics in the summer of 1996, and has continued the fine work of his predecessors – Cliff Hamlow and Terry Franson – in building Azusa Pacific into the premier intercollegiate athletic program in the NAIA – the 5-time reigning Director’s Cup champion.
Odell came to Azusa Pacific in 1991 with the task of rebuilding the Cougar men’s basketball program. Five years later, he was asked to expand his duties and maintain a powerful athletic program. In both assignments, as a coach and as an administrator, the even-keeled Odell has flourished. His subsequent success and ever-growing reputation command respect on the campus, in the community and on the national scene.
As a coach, Odell fashioned a marvelous 454-112 record in 16 seasons while leading Azusa Pacific to 14 NAIA Tournament appearances and a record 13 Golden State Athletic Conference championships including an unprecedented 9 straight conference titles from 1993 to 2001. In 2005 he put the Cougars in their first-ever NAIA national championship game, and for that effort he was named the NAIA Coach of the Year. He retired from coaching in the spring of 2007, walking away from a legacy as college basketball winningest men’s coach from 1991 to 2007.
As director of athletics, Odell has displayed similar mastery of the assignments. He has put together a dazzling staff of head coaches. Of the 12 current Cougar head coaches, Odell has hired 11, including GSAC Coaches of the Year Jason Surrell (women’s soccer), Mike Barnett (women’s track & field), Mark Bohren (men’s and women’s tennis) and Paul Svagdis (baseball). In the past 5 years, Odell has brought on board T.J. Hardeman (women’s basketball), Chris Keife (women’s volleyball), Carrie Webber (softball) and Robert Fleming (women’s swimming & diving and women’s water polo) to head their respective programs.
Today, Odell oversees Azusa Pacific’s 17-sport program and the $1.7 million budget that accompanies it. He has increased contributions and donations to the program each year, resulting in a record giving.
During Odell’s tenure, Azusa Pacific athletic success has been unparalleled in university history. In the prestigious Directors’ Cup, a national award program that annually measures the overall accomplishments of collegiate athletic programs, Azusa Pacific is 1 of only 2 institutions to finish among the top 10 in the NAIA every year of the Directors’ Cup existence, including 11 straight top 4 finishes and 5 consecutive championships. Azusa Pacific captured its first-ever Cup in 2005 and added its second, third and fourth Cups in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In the summer of 2009, Azusa Pacific was crowned the Directors’ Cup champion for a fifth straight year, becoming only the fourth school ever to win 5 straight Cup titles. Sixteen Cougar sports have advanced to their respective NAIA championship tournament since Odell took over, including 6 that won national championships – women’s soccer (1998), football (1998), men’s track & field (2001, 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2009), women’s track & field (2003, 2004 and 2007), men’s tennis (2005) and men’s soccer (2007). Three other sports – softball, men’s basketball and women’s tennis – advanced to their respective national championship game in the past decade.
Odell came to Azusa Pacific after a long and distinguished career at Millikan High School in Long Beach, Calif., where he served as varsity basketball coach (1971-91) and athletics director (1976-91). Prior to his time at Millikan, Odell coached for 3 seasons at Northview High School in Covina, Calif.
He graduated from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif., in 1964, and went on to earn a master’s degree in physical education administration from USC in 1972. While at Westmont, he lettered 4 years in basketball, receiving All-NAIA-District recognition for his play as a guard.
Odell prepped at Huntington Park (Calif.) High School from which he graduated in 1960. A 2-sport standout in basketball and baseball, he earned All-L.A. City hoop honors as a senior after being named the Eastern League Player of the Year.
Bill and his wife, Gayle, live in La Verne, Calif. They have 2 adult children, Dave, currently the athletics director at Westmont College, and Susie, the athletics director at Saint Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., along with 5 grandchildren.
