Kevin Willard bolting Maryland for Villanova after ugly March Madness saga
The worst-kept secret in college basketball is now completely out of the bag.
nypost.com
Kevin Willard bolting Maryland for Villanova after ugly March Madness saga
- Thread starter Halldan1
- Start date
nypost.com
Willard bolts Maryland to become Villanova coach
Kevin Willard, who led Maryland to the Sweet 16 of this season's NCAA tournament, has accepted Villanova's offer to become the program's head basketball coach.
3 schools in a few years. Not much different than what players are now doing and taking hell for it.
More than ever college BB & FB are as cutthroat than they ever have been.
More than ever college BB & FB are as cutthroat than they ever have been.
Always wished him well at Maryland and rooted for his team to go further in the tournament.
Like Amaker at Michigan, if he never wins another game, I'd be fine.
Like Amaker at Michigan, if he never wins another game, I'd be fine.
Definitely won’t be rooting for him at Villanova
This isn’t a situation like Cooley. Willard gave us 12 years and has been gone for 3. But what a weird situation to have him now coaching that team after the how it went against them in his time at The Hall.
Maryland wasn’t all it was cracked up to be for him or maybe the family too idk.
Let’s beat him.
Maryland wasn’t all it was cracked up to be for him or maybe the family too idk.
Let’s beat him.
as if we would do different if able. we will be taking 8 to 10 kids from other achools and if we get what we want it will hurt the schools who lost them. and are best players can leave us whenever they want.
its a shitty world college hoops lives in. lets not act like we are different.
its a shitty world college hoops lives in. lets not act like we are different.
@PirateFan94 hit the nail on the head Willard wouldn't make it through his first contract at Maryland. Just Willard fire Maryland instead of the other way around.
I too thought he wouldn't make it past 3 years, but I certainly didn't see it playing out this way.
I think that's silly. I'll root for him when it helps Seton Hall. That could be any time. When it's in Seton Hall's best interest he loses, I hope they get crushed.
Maryland isn’t as great as it fans and alumni seem to think. Only two S16s in the last 20+ years. Plus uncertainty with new AD. Uncertainty with focus on football. Uncertainty with split of resources and NIL between football and basketball. Add in some family discontent.
Nova has all the money for hoops that anyone can ask for and way more success than Maryland since Gary Williams retired.
Mix that all together and poof, Willard is at Nova.
An unusual situation for sure. I didn’t think a successful P4 coach would leave the football riches but the BE is a very good landing spot in the right circumstances. This is one of those situations.
Nova has all the money for hoops that anyone can ask for and way more success than Maryland since Gary Williams retired.
Mix that all together and poof, Willard is at Nova.
An unusual situation for sure. I didn’t think a successful P4 coach would leave the football riches but the BE is a very good landing spot in the right circumstances. This is one of those situations.
So wild. Back in KW's first go-around in the BE, Nova fans would have laughed their heads off at the idea he'd be their coach.
'He played us like a drum': Inside Kevin Willard's turbulent Maryland departure
Highlighting a fight that is brewing on college campuses, Willard wanted a bigger piece of the pie than Maryland could offer
www.cbssports.com
"Willard had issues with the Big Ten's schedule and travel situations, which would only get worse when USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington officially joined the conference, but it didn't raise alarms early on the way maybe it should have."'He played us like a drum': Inside Kevin Willard's turbulent Maryland departure
Highlighting a fight that is brewing on college campuses, Willard wanted a bigger piece of the pie than Maryland could offer
Lol Always with the schedule!
i root for any BE TEAM in an OOC game or in tHe tourney.
He complained about it once during the season and his AD criticized him publicly.
This was an issue earlier this year for sure. Even their local reporters and fan-driven sites were writing about this.
It's always the same story with Maryland. Remember when Willard left and we were all debating here whether or not they are the Top-10 program he thought they could be? And the crazy perceptions for a program that hasn't done much for a while? Plus moving to the Big Ten helped them financially as they were in a major hole. It's just not that It's a good public school program with massive politics. Willard found this out.
East coast school in a Midwest conference. They have no natural rivals. They went from being basketball focused to forcing football. It’s obviously backfiring, at least on the basketball front.
Not sure I like this for Villanova. Great for him for sure. Nova Nation got used to Playing for Titles. Now it could be 4th or 5th in The BigEast and a possible trip to The Sweet 16. In my opinion they settled. He was good for Seton Hall, and we should appreciate his time in South Orange. With the current coaches in place UConn, Creighton and SJU are ahead. I'd say Marquette too, but they fizzle at Tournament time.
Update Regarding Maryland Men’s Basketball - University of Maryland Athletics
Dear Terrapin Nation,
umterps.com
I don't think they settled. I think they targeted a guy they need in Willard.
What was the problem the last 3 seasons at Villanova? Budget? No. Getting talent? No. They were wildly inconsistent on the court because they were coached by a novice who wasn't ready for this level. So they went out and got a guy with experience, an extensive background in the BE, and has proven he knows how to get programs to the NCAA Tournament.
And if Willard can't advance in the NCAA Tournament enough for their liking, well, then deal with that then. Right now they're not even getting there anymore.
What was the problem the last 3 seasons at Villanova? Budget? No. Getting talent? No. They were wildly inconsistent on the court because they were coached by a novice who wasn't ready for this level. So they went out and got a guy with experience, an extensive background in the BE, and has proven he knows how to get programs to the NCAA Tournament.
And if Willard can't advance in the NCAA Tournament enough for their liking, well, then deal with that then. Right now they're not even getting there anymore.
Willard is branding himself as a massive a-hole to the entire college basketball community. hes an ok coach, but we already knew this about him. this is the second time hes made a disastrous exit all about himself. Skipping the pregame dinner /speech, actively calling out maryland in every press conference, and the nonstop complaining. his NIL budget for basketball at maryland is in the top half of the BIG10, which is just about as good as you can be across college basketball. yet its still not enough for him and has to make a mockery of everything.
Based on the time and the situation, he doesn't get slammed enough for his exit at seton hall. this maryland one is 10x worse. The major UMD donors are going at him too.
sure, nowadays everyone is in it for themselves, as they should be. but kevin was always an a-hole and a whiner. hes got almost nothing of note for his career and now he almost has to succeed greatly to change his legacy. nobody cares about seton hall but this maryland thing is a national story among college basketball.
Based on the time and the situation, he doesn't get slammed enough for his exit at seton hall. this maryland one is 10x worse. The major UMD donors are going at him too.
sure, nowadays everyone is in it for themselves, as they should be. but kevin was always an a-hole and a whiner. hes got almost nothing of note for his career and now he almost has to succeed greatly to change his legacy. nobody cares about seton hall but this maryland thing is a national story among college basketball.
I’ll use it as often as I used MarylandHoopsFan. Root against him at all times even if it hurts seton hall is what a true SHUHoopsFan would want. 😂
I am surprised they were not all in on Pitino's kid and didn't try to sell Sean Miller the benefit of no football competition for NIL compared to Texas. They can say they are hiring a coach that was in the sweet 16 compared to a coach in waiting that hasn't done anything like they just did.
Whole thing is pretty bizarre.
i see people laying out reasons for why he left - not sure anyone is disputing that Villanova is a better gig at this point and importantly he lost his AD. That is reason enough to jump ship. Unless he absolutely crushed it you can always bet on a new AD wanting to bring his own guy in.
He could have just left it at that. Wanted more stability, preferred the Big East etc. etc.
From a distance he seems to be the perfect embodiment of how sleazy CBB and CFB are. Is he worse than other coaches? Probably not but he does present it more loudly.
More than ever coaches and players are out for themselves, with Willard he leaves you no doubt about that. Its his profession so in a way I get it.
He could have just left it at that. Wanted more stability, preferred the Big East etc. etc.
From a distance he seems to be the perfect embodiment of how sleazy CBB and CFB are. Is he worse than other coaches? Probably not but he does present it more loudly.
More than ever coaches and players are out for themselves, with Willard he leaves you no doubt about that. Its his profession so in a way I get it.
Kinda makes you wonder what the little 10 saw in either school that made them think they needed either of them for future success.
Above average, milk toast coach. Sha was Willard's top recruiter during his best seasons. Give me a competive NIL package and Sha in a bunker over Willard any day. Sha already reached Elite 8 on a shoestring budget at St. Peter's. Kevin squeaked into Sweet 16 at Maryland.
Sha top recruiter over Tiny and Antigua? Is that for real?
Alot of people that closely follow college hoops still associate Maryland with ACC.
I find it hard to believe but apparently Nate Oats is very interested in the Maryland gig, per multiple guys on X. Alabama wants to put more NIL focus on football while Maryland supposedly wants to focus on basketball. I could see this being more of a play for a pay bump but we’ll see.
