News & Observer | newsobserver.com | 2008 NCAA Men's Bracket

Dave Odom doesn't have a basketball team of his own this year, but the former Wake Forest and South Carolina coach is staying close to the game, watching other schools practice and play.

On Wednesay, he was planning to check out a Duke workout. Odom says the Blue Devils can compete with North Carolina on the perimeter, but the Tar Heels low-post presence gives coach Roy Williams' No. 1 ranked team the edge.

"They're both in the top five,'' Odom said during a talk at the Raleigh Sports Club. "Duke can play with them. But in the end, the low post is a factor."

The Tar Heels still have Tyler Hansbrough and Deon Thompson also is a force in the paint.

"Hansbrough is Hansbrough is Hansbrough,"" Odom said.  "He is the best player in the country. Nobody brings it every night like he does."

After 42 years of coaching in high school (11 years) and college (31 years), Odom stepped down at South Carolina after last season.