COLUMBIA, Mo. — Is there a sitting high-major conference coach in Mizzou’s crosshairs?
Some Tiger fans would love to see Rick Pitino stalking Norm Stewart Court, but would they settle for someone on his coaching tree?
One name that is generating buzz around the coaching world is Seton Hall’s Kevin Willard. He’s in his 12th year at the Big East school, and there’s some thought he’s maximized the program’s potential in New Jersey.
“He’s felt he’s done all he can there,” one source said.
Willard’s name has been linked to the vacancy at Maryland for months. Would there be interest about 1,000 miles west in Mizzou? Perhaps. A little more about the 46-year-old:
• He’s guided Seton Hall to five NCAA Tournaments in the last seven years and would have qualified for a sixth during the COVID year in 2020. Seton Hall finished no worse than third in the Big East every year from 2016-20 and tied for the regular-season championship in 2020.
• He’s got a losing record in Big East play over the length of his 12 years (105-113) but has been much better in the second half of his time there, going 75-53 the last six years. This year’s team is 21-10 and earned a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, playing 9 seed TCU.
• Four of his last seven teams have finished among the nation’s top 40 in KenPom’s defensive efficiency rankings. He’s had two top-30 teams in offensive efficiency.
• The Huntington, New York, native has spent the bulk of his career on the East Coast, beginning as a Boston Celtics assistant under Pitino fresh out of college in 1997. (Willard played at Western Kentucky and later Pittsburgh.) After four years in Boston, he followed Pitino to Louisville and coached under him there for another seven seasons, including a Final Four team in 2005. That led to Willard’s first head-coaching job at Iona, where he was just 45-49 in three seasons but finished strong, going 21-10 in 2010.
From there, he succeeded Bobby Gonzalez at Seton Hall and in year six won 25 games and the Big East tournament. The highest his teams have been seeded in the NCAA Tournament is No. 6; his teams are 1-4 in the NCAAs.
• Willard has been linked to other jobs in the past — he was a candidate at Virginia Tech in 2019 when Buzz Williams left for Texas A&M — and reportedly makes $2.3 million per year.
• He has signed just one top 25 recruiting class, per 247Sports.com’s national composite, and that came in 2014 when he landed the No. 16 class, headlined by five-star prospect Isaiah Whitehead. He’s produced just two NBA draft picks over the last 11 years, second-round selections in 2016 and 2021. His last couple rosters have been mostly homegrown high school recruits, though he’s added transfers from Syracuse, South Florida, American and ex-Mizzou forward Tray Jackson, a former four-star recruit.
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Some Tiger fans would love to see Rick Pitino stalking Norm Stewart Court, but would they settle for someone on his coaching tree?
One name that is generating buzz around the coaching world is Seton Hall’s Kevin Willard. He’s in his 12th year at the Big East school, and there’s some thought he’s maximized the program’s potential in New Jersey.
“He’s felt he’s done all he can there,” one source said.
Willard’s name has been linked to the vacancy at Maryland for months. Would there be interest about 1,000 miles west in Mizzou? Perhaps. A little more about the 46-year-old:
• He’s guided Seton Hall to five NCAA Tournaments in the last seven years and would have qualified for a sixth during the COVID year in 2020. Seton Hall finished no worse than third in the Big East every year from 2016-20 and tied for the regular-season championship in 2020.
• He’s got a losing record in Big East play over the length of his 12 years (105-113) but has been much better in the second half of his time there, going 75-53 the last six years. This year’s team is 21-10 and earned a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, playing 9 seed TCU.
• Four of his last seven teams have finished among the nation’s top 40 in KenPom’s defensive efficiency rankings. He’s had two top-30 teams in offensive efficiency.
• The Huntington, New York, native has spent the bulk of his career on the East Coast, beginning as a Boston Celtics assistant under Pitino fresh out of college in 1997. (Willard played at Western Kentucky and later Pittsburgh.) After four years in Boston, he followed Pitino to Louisville and coached under him there for another seven seasons, including a Final Four team in 2005. That led to Willard’s first head-coaching job at Iona, where he was just 45-49 in three seasons but finished strong, going 21-10 in 2010.
From there, he succeeded Bobby Gonzalez at Seton Hall and in year six won 25 games and the Big East tournament. The highest his teams have been seeded in the NCAA Tournament is No. 6; his teams are 1-4 in the NCAAs.
• Willard has been linked to other jobs in the past — he was a candidate at Virginia Tech in 2019 when Buzz Williams left for Texas A&M — and reportedly makes $2.3 million per year.
• He has signed just one top 25 recruiting class, per 247Sports.com’s national composite, and that came in 2014 when he landed the No. 16 class, headlined by five-star prospect Isaiah Whitehead. He’s produced just two NBA draft picks over the last 11 years, second-round selections in 2016 and 2021. His last couple rosters have been mostly homegrown high school recruits, though he’s added transfers from Syracuse, South Florida, American and ex-Mizzou forward Tray Jackson, a former four-star recruit.
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