The End Is Not the Trophy

David Odom's new book, The End Is Not the Trophy, is a look at the former Wake Forest basketball coach's lifetime of coaching and sports—from his early days growing up in Goldsboro, North Carolina, through his high school and college years, and into his successful career as first a high school coach, then a college assistant, and finally a nationally renowned college head coach.

Prior to Odom's arrival at Wake Forest in 1990, the university had never played in more than two straight NCAA tournaments. Under his guidance, he led Wake to two ACC titles and seven straight trips to NCAA post-season play, the seventh longest in the country. The End Is Not the Trophy looks at the people who have influenced him and answers the question, "Why coaching?" Odom talks about his stint in high school coaching and his progress through the ranks until he was named Wake Forest's head coach—one of America's premiere coaching positions.

With humor and revealing candor, Odom shares his world of basketball at its highest level and discusses what the life of a basketball coach is really like. The End Is Not the Trophy is a guide for young or would-be coaches, a sports fan's delight, and a must for anyone interested in basketball and the life led by those involved in coaching the sport.

"In discussing the coach's function in any sport, Odom makes a number of arresting observations: a coach who is not a teacher is not a good coach; a coach who relies only on computer printouts and other statistical data ignores the humanity of his players. Most intriguing of all, he claims not to read articles about himself or his team in the press, for he believes that sports reporters don't know as much about the game as he does." — Publishers Weekly

"Odom's maiden voyage into the literary world is a refreshing diversion… to its credit, The End is Not the Trophy is short on the personal and long on the philosophical." — Greensboro News and Record

"A must for any individual who would like to pursue a dream in the world of coaching… David is one of the brightest minds in college basketball who learned his craft at the high school level and has coached successfully for many years in the highly competitive world of ACC basketball. David Odom's philosophy is Awesome, baby, with a capital A." — Dick Vitale, Sports Commentator

"Coming up though the Wake Forest basketball system, Coach Odom taught me many things. Many of these had to do with basketball, yet many were valuable life lessons. The value of friendship, togetherness, and pride—among other things—helped each and every student-athlete grow and mature on and off the court." — Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs