The Rams introduced Martelli, the son of a longtime St. Joseph’s coach, as the latest in what has been an impressive string of successful hires by athletic director Ed McLaughlin. McLaughlin took over his position in 2012 and, three years later, replaced Shaka Smart with Will Wade, then Wade with Mike Rhoades and then Rhoades with Ryan Odom.

Like Odom, Martelli is a coach’s son. The second-winningest coach in Atlantic 10 history, Phil Martelli Sr. led St. Joseph’s for 25 years, and his 2003-04 squad went 27-0 in the regular season before stumbling against Xavier in the A-10 Tournament and Oklahoma State in the NCAA Elite Eight.

Martelli was introduced as the new VCU men’s basketball coach in a campus press conference on Thursday after guiding Bryant to March Madness