Piedmont’s Mr. 3,000

Piedmont (AL) – Piedmont’s Odam becomes the 14th player to reach 3000-point plateau during Bulldogs’ OT victory over White Plains

By Al Muskewitz

Piedmont’s Alex Odam scored 41 from almost every position on the floor to become the 14th player from Alabama high school history with 3,000 career points. However, it took a layup by one of his teammates under the basket to make the night more memorable. Odam was joined by some elite company. Chance Murphy received a pass from his senior guard below the basket with less that a second left in overtime, and he laid it in just before the horn for a 66-64 victory over White Plains.

Odam now has 325 points for his career, placing 14th on AHSAA’s all-time scoring lists. He is nine points behind ASD’s Deon Harps. He scored 17 field goals, no 3-pointers and was 7 of 8 from the foul line. Odam stated, “It’s quite special, obviously it the best one yet.” It was a rare feat, and it made it even more special than the 1,000 or 2,000 others (1,000 or 2000), especially on a night such as tonight. Everything turned out to be kind of perfect.

The week has been good for the Jacksonville State signee. He scored 105 points in three games, grabbed 20 rebounds, and gave 22 assists. Odam required 16 points to reach this milestone. He scored it with a mid-range fadeaway jumper just 23 seconds into the third period. White Plains coach Chris Randall presented the player with a specially monogrammed ball and the game was stopped. Odam laughed and said, “I was playing with him and told his that I wouldn’t take it if it had the White Plains logo” He made sure to write a white WP before he gave it back to me. It was quite a cool moment.”

Randall stated, “How many thousand of children have played this game? For him to end up having 3,000 is quite an achievement.” He is a happy man. He got it against us. I was so disappointed that we didn’t win. I would have loved for him and us to win the 3,000. I gave the ball to him and told them they wouldn’t allow me to give you your diploma. However, I will give you this ball. It has WP on it. I told him that I couldn’t wait for him to come. “I’m tired of seeing him wearing (Piedmont’s) blue and golden, so I’m ready for him to wear (JSU’s) red and black.” Odam’s last scoring milestone was when his team lost. In a win over Pleasant Valley, Odam scored his 1,000th freshman point in January 2020. He also scored his 2,000th junior point in a defeat to Saks in Dec 2021. He said, “(Getting the victory) made it much better.” It would have been very sweet to win it tonight, but it wouldn’t have been the same if we lost that game. It was a great ending. The locker room was better.