I don't think it means nothing. They had a great season on multiple levels. I'm sure Maryland fans appreciate that even if they get disappointed with an earlier round exit than expected. It isn't like they are sneaking into the dance as a 8/9 team.
Willard & Maryland 2nd Place In b1g…..
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You have quite the connections. You must have mind melded with all D 1 coaches. Please enlighten us with your connections and tell us who you spoke to and what they said.
I am not saying it’s fair to him..and I partly agree with you..but it is looked at as a fluke
Also to play devils advocate if he’s a proven tournament coach than whats the magic word? He is 1-3 in the BET with 2 ATROCIOUS losses
His first year he lost his first NIT game to a team that got their doors blown off by Utah Valley..so what’s the secret?
He’s like every other coach..he has good and bad but the problem is he is not making it now
I really enjoyed Coach Willard at Seton Hall. The big thing for me was that I always felt our team had a chance to win every game we played. And we played some major talent at great venues which helped improve our brand.
I really like Coach Holloway as well. He has to improve our brand identity and the administration must provide significant support.
I really like Coach Holloway as well. He has to improve our brand identity and the administration must provide significant support.
Sure
I know a MAAC coach very well and an ACC coach VERY VERY well and have been in the company of Pitino..ACC head coaches and assistants from ACC, B1G, NEC, MAAC
None reference sha specifically because he/we are irrelevant…but they’ll give some opinions if I ask
And judging on how most of them talk..it is a fluke to take a low low conference team make the tournament and win (what they consider) 3 single random games 1 time..they have a “lack of respect” call it to anything that isn’t going through the grind of a full big conference season..making a tournament..and win games when people are paying attention with expectations. And than doing it again
That is what most of those guys consider to be real deal
Honestly, the difference between a "good tournament coach" and "bad tournament coach" is often just luck. I'm sure some coaches are better than others at short turnarounds, but these single game elimination formats necessarily result in some coaches advancing farther than expected and some advancing shorter than expected.
Willard won the BET tournament because Isaiah Whitehead played out of his mind for a month+. He lost in the NCAAs that same year because Whitehead played the worst game of his life against an under seeded Gonzaga at elevation. Neither outcome says much about Willard.
Yes most every coach will publicly say that winning a conference regular season, as an example, is a much greater achievement than winning a conference tournament. Though I'm not sure anyone disagrees with that.
He was in the NCAAs once and it was amazing.
And in the NIT once and he won it.
I can see someone thinking the SPU run was a fluke. But he fluked it against team he has no business beating. If someone offered us seats at MSG in that yrs OOC to see SPU player either KY or Perude, we all say no thinks cause the games will suck. And Perdue folded the yr before so I doubt if they were sleeping on it.
You are in the conference toureny in most cases just cause you exist.
He has been in the NIT twice..first time was a first round loss
But yea I agree with basically everything
And the next year, Khadeen, one of my fave's and the absolute right guy to have the ball, turns it over twce vs ARK.
Runs like that are as much about the players as they are the coach. In order for a run like that to happen, guys have to get hot at the right time. It happened. Sorry but if that sequence shows up on the schedule 1,000 times, SPU goes 3-0 probably 5 out of 1,000 times. That's what makes it a fuke.
Individual games don't say much but the stretch Whitehead played for 8 weeks wasn't some little hot streak. He got benched in OT vs Wichita State until we needed to put him back in as an extra ball handler. His decision making the next game vs USF was so absurd that he never looked for his own shot, all he did was look to pass the ball no matter if he had any easy layup. Then the whole starting 5 got benched vs Creighton basically the first or second weekend of January and between then and March 12 he was a beast for about 18 or 19 games. 18 or 19 games of great ball deserves some credit for both coach and player.
Yeah, and 99.9% of those coaches could only dream of making that run. Jealousy and sour grapes.
I give KW all the credit for changing his Coaching philosophy and working very hard to raise NIL money ( a lesson Sha should take to heart)
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Big Ten
Published: February 4, 2025 10:01 pm EST
Kevin Willard is not satisfied with Maryland at 18.
Getty Images
COLLEGE PARK — “I’m not happy at 18! You shouldn’t be happy at 18!” shouts Maryland head coach Kevin Willard, alluding to his team’s ranking in the latest AP poll. It is a Monday afternoon at the Xfinity Center and the way the Terrapins are practicing, no one appears to be happy at 18. With a 17-5 record (7-4 in the Big Ten), Maryland is in the top 25 for the first time since February 2023, but that hardly seems to matter to the coaches and players. “We set the bar that we just got to keep building off of,” 6-foot-10 freshman center Derik Queen tells Hoops HQ. “And not get satisfied.”
Among the Maryland faithful, excitement is starting to swell. The team had its first sellout of the season when it hosted then-No. 17 Wisconsin last Wednesday. Nearly 18,000 people packed into Xfinity to watch the Terrapins put the exclamation point on an inspiring January with a 76-68 victory, their fourth in a row. After losing to Washington and Oregon to begin the month, Maryland has won six of its last seven, including two on the road against Illinois and Indiana, heading into Thursday’s game at Ohio State. The Terps have a balanced attack led by Queen, the second-highest rated recruit ever to sign with the school. All five starters — Queen, 6-foot-9 senior forward Julian Reese, 6-foot-1 junior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie, 6-foot-4 sophomore guard Rodney Rice and 6-foot-4 senior guard Selton Miguel — average at least 11 points per game.
There is optimism around campus about this team’s prospects and the overall direction of the program, but it is cautious optimism. Rooting for Maryland has been a roller coaster over the past 15 years. Former head coach Mark Turgeon led the Terps to a Big Ten regular season title in 2020 and five NCAA Tournament appearances in a decade, but his teams never advanced past the Sweet 16. Turgeon stepped down amid a disappointing 2021-22 campaign in which boos had begun to drown out cheers in Xfinity. Even in Willard’s brief time at the helm, there have been extreme highs and lows. Maryland went 22-13 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in his debut season, then finished 16-17 and 12th in the Big Ten last year.
This season has the feel of a new beginning. It is the product of a modernized approach to running the program, one informed by last year’s struggles and the immense changes to the college basketball landscape. In Willard’s eyes, it was either adapt or keep losing. And the latter is not an option in College Park.
The first thing you see when you walk into Willard’s office at Xfinity is the “Fraternity of Greatness,” a portion of the wall dedicated to Maryland basketball legends. Lefty Driesell, Gary Williams, Len Bias, Steve Francis, Juan Dixon, Greivis Vasquez — the list goes on and on. It is a reminder of the program’s proud history and of the expectations that come with Willard’s position. At his introductory press conference in 2022, Willard called it “a top 10 job in college basketball.”
About a year ago in this office, at a large table beneath the “Fraternity of Greatness,” the seeds for this season were planted. Willard gathered his staff following a 56-53 loss to Rutgers in which his team shot 31.5 percent from the field and 11 percent from three. By then, the evidence was clear: Maryland just didn’t have the offensive firepower to compete in the Big Ten. Willard knew it. “I was like, ‘Let’s enjoy coaching them. They’re working hard, they’re playing their asses off, we just can’t score,’” Willard says. “The biggest thing was, ‘Let’s learn from this year. What went wrong? What did we do right? What can we change?’”
Willard, who was the head coach at Iona (2007-10) and Seton Hall (2010-22) before joining Maryland, admits that the Big Ten “humbled” him. There were a number of adjustments that he needed to make, beginning with his approach to NIL and constructing a roster. Initially, his plan to build up the program was to bring in a new class of four freshmen each year, utilizing the school’s location in one of the best basketball regions in the country to his advantage. It was an outdated strategy that overlooked the importance of the transfer portal. Even if Willard could convince top high school players to commit to Maryland, getting them all to stay for several years would be a great challenge.
In the 2023 offseason, Maryland had a very small NIL budget simply because the program had not made it a priority. “That was my fault,” says Willard, “because I went into it with the idea of let’s bring freshmen in and build it and build it and build it. And the transfer portal was just like, ‘You’re a dumbass.’”
The 2023-24 team indeed had four freshmen, two of whom were prominently featured in the rotation (DeShawn Harris-Smith, Jamie Kaiser) and really struggled. There was only one transfer (Jordan Geronimo) who played more than 10 minutes per game.
Much of Willard’s focus shifted from recruiting freshmen to recruiting transfers before the 2024 offseason. His attention to fundraising allowed the program to be a much bigger player in the portal. The Terps had the money; now they just had to figure out how to use it.
The starting frontcourt was already in place. Queen, a 6-foot-10 center, committed in February, and Reese, a 6-foot-9 forward, would be returning for his senior year. Maryland’s defense has been consistently good under Willard, but the offense was atrocious in ‘23-24, averaging 69 points per game on 41.3 percent shooting from the field and 28.9 percent from three. Willard had underestimated the importance of perimeter shooting in the Big Ten, where the size of teams makes attacking the paint very difficult
https://www.hoopshq.com/
Big Ten
Maryland Has A New Look, Plenty of Wins and All Kinds of Momentum
Thanks to a freshman phenom and hot-shooting guards, the No. 18 Terrapins have claimed their highest AP ranking in two y
Published: February 4, 2025 10:01 pm EST
Kevin Willard is not satisfied with Maryland at 18.
Getty Images
COLLEGE PARK — “I’m not happy at 18! You shouldn’t be happy at 18!” shouts Maryland head coach Kevin Willard, alluding to his team’s ranking in the latest AP poll. It is a Monday afternoon at the Xfinity Center and the way the Terrapins are practicing, no one appears to be happy at 18. With a 17-5 record (7-4 in the Big Ten), Maryland is in the top 25 for the first time since February 2023, but that hardly seems to matter to the coaches and players. “We set the bar that we just got to keep building off of,” 6-foot-10 freshman center Derik Queen tells Hoops HQ. “And not get satisfied.”
Among the Maryland faithful, excitement is starting to swell. The team had its first sellout of the season when it hosted then-No. 17 Wisconsin last Wednesday. Nearly 18,000 people packed into Xfinity to watch the Terrapins put the exclamation point on an inspiring January with a 76-68 victory, their fourth in a row. After losing to Washington and Oregon to begin the month, Maryland has won six of its last seven, including two on the road against Illinois and Indiana, heading into Thursday’s game at Ohio State. The Terps have a balanced attack led by Queen, the second-highest rated recruit ever to sign with the school. All five starters — Queen, 6-foot-9 senior forward Julian Reese, 6-foot-1 junior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie, 6-foot-4 sophomore guard Rodney Rice and 6-foot-4 senior guard Selton Miguel — average at least 11 points per game.
There is optimism around campus about this team’s prospects and the overall direction of the program, but it is cautious optimism. Rooting for Maryland has been a roller coaster over the past 15 years. Former head coach Mark Turgeon led the Terps to a Big Ten regular season title in 2020 and five NCAA Tournament appearances in a decade, but his teams never advanced past the Sweet 16. Turgeon stepped down amid a disappointing 2021-22 campaign in which boos had begun to drown out cheers in Xfinity. Even in Willard’s brief time at the helm, there have been extreme highs and lows. Maryland went 22-13 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in his debut season, then finished 16-17 and 12th in the Big Ten last year.
This season has the feel of a new beginning. It is the product of a modernized approach to running the program, one informed by last year’s struggles and the immense changes to the college basketball landscape. In Willard’s eyes, it was either adapt or keep losing. And the latter is not an option in College Park.
The first thing you see when you walk into Willard’s office at Xfinity is the “Fraternity of Greatness,” a portion of the wall dedicated to Maryland basketball legends. Lefty Driesell, Gary Williams, Len Bias, Steve Francis, Juan Dixon, Greivis Vasquez — the list goes on and on. It is a reminder of the program’s proud history and of the expectations that come with Willard’s position. At his introductory press conference in 2022, Willard called it “a top 10 job in college basketball.”
About a year ago in this office, at a large table beneath the “Fraternity of Greatness,” the seeds for this season were planted. Willard gathered his staff following a 56-53 loss to Rutgers in which his team shot 31.5 percent from the field and 11 percent from three. By then, the evidence was clear: Maryland just didn’t have the offensive firepower to compete in the Big Ten. Willard knew it. “I was like, ‘Let’s enjoy coaching them. They’re working hard, they’re playing their asses off, we just can’t score,’” Willard says. “The biggest thing was, ‘Let’s learn from this year. What went wrong? What did we do right? What can we change?’”
Willard, who was the head coach at Iona (2007-10) and Seton Hall (2010-22) before joining Maryland, admits that the Big Ten “humbled” him. There were a number of adjustments that he needed to make, beginning with his approach to NIL and constructing a roster. Initially, his plan to build up the program was to bring in a new class of four freshmen each year, utilizing the school’s location in one of the best basketball regions in the country to his advantage. It was an outdated strategy that overlooked the importance of the transfer portal. Even if Willard could convince top high school players to commit to Maryland, getting them all to stay for several years would be a great challenge.
In the 2023 offseason, Maryland had a very small NIL budget simply because the program had not made it a priority. “That was my fault,” says Willard, “because I went into it with the idea of let’s bring freshmen in and build it and build it and build it. And the transfer portal was just like, ‘You’re a dumbass.’”
The 2023-24 team indeed had four freshmen, two of whom were prominently featured in the rotation (DeShawn Harris-Smith, Jamie Kaiser) and really struggled. There was only one transfer (Jordan Geronimo) who played more than 10 minutes per game.
Much of Willard’s focus shifted from recruiting freshmen to recruiting transfers before the 2024 offseason. His attention to fundraising allowed the program to be a much bigger player in the portal. The Terps had the money; now they just had to figure out how to use it.
The starting frontcourt was already in place. Queen, a 6-foot-10 center, committed in February, and Reese, a 6-foot-9 forward, would be returning for his senior year. Maryland’s defense has been consistently good under Willard, but the offense was atrocious in ‘23-24, averaging 69 points per game on 41.3 percent shooting from the field and 28.9 percent from three. Willard had underestimated the importance of perimeter shooting in the Big Ten, where the size of teams makes attacking the paint very difficult
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Probably true..no doubt
Two of them have multiple final fours but I agree with you
Most of coaching is sour grapes but doesn’t change the fact that’s the feeling
Make that run and then do what Sha is doing in his first three years at a high major job? I don’t think many, if any, sign up for that.
That Arkansas game was for me the most heartbreaking of all the loses in KW’s time at SHU. That’s saying a lot since most of college hoops is about heart break for your favorite team.
His NCAAT bugaboo is going to be even more pronounced at a school like Maryland if it continues. They go headhunting for guys who don’t advance them. He is a better coach than his 2-6 record, IMO, and this year he’ll be favored to show that likely getting a 4-6 seed, the best he’s had. It’s tough to advance when you’re an 8-10 seed and he hasn’t been able to figure out a way through in these games.
2016 = 6 (0-1)
2017 = 9 (0-1)
2018 = 8 (1-1)
2019 = 10 (0-1)
2020 = n/a
2022 = 8 (1-1)
2024 = 5?
2016 = 6 (0-1)
2017 = 9 (0-1)
2018 = 8 (1-1)
2019 = 10 (0-1)
2020 = n/a
2022 = 8 (1-1)
2024 = 5?
We were down there for that game. Great city for an NCAAT, BTW. I say that every time it comes up bc it’s true. Everyone drowned their sorrows afterwards lol.
It was such a brutal loss after we had just had our hearts broken in that BET semifinal (Hart putback, Delgado miss)
I give that a like and an LOL...And the next year the comeback vs Kansas with KC killing it. Myles Powell called for an offensive foul negating another three on the one pick he set in his time here lol.
Of course that is correct, st peters was a double digit dog in two of those games I would believe
Are you seriously going to say Shaheen as the coach was rolling the balls out and the players won those games. SHA played no role?
This conversation is getting beyond absurd.
Yes, those were fluke wins however, it does not discount the accomplishment or the wins. I also don't think a few assistant coaches in the MAAC or whomever else was spoken to ( who did not mention Sha BTW apparently ) think the run was meaningless.
The agendas of some on this board are ridiculous. Be transparent:
Nothing Sha has done or will do will change my view of him.
Or
Nothing any Seton Hall coach has done or will do will change my opinion.
Where did I say Sha just rolled the balls out. Players get hot. They shot over 50% from 3 vs Kentucky. Shoot their typical 35% or so and they're home in round 1 with a great fight. Nobody is discounting the accomplishments, it's was a great run and you need to do a great job for it to happen, but it's also a bit of a fluke. It's not happening they go 3-0 25% of the time against those 3 teams. Great job. Great accomplishment. Still a fluke for any 15 seed to get to the elite 8 unless you think you just want argue 15 seeds are more likely to get there than I think.
Let’s be factual. This year is a disaster. His first year at SHU he had a winning record and finished 10-10 in the BE despite the injuries and the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. In year two he won 25 games and finished 13-7 in the BE. Next year obviously a major course correction is needed by Holloway and SHU leadership.
So you know 1 MAAC coach , an ACC coach and have been in the presence of other coaches, none of whom mention Sha, but 99% of all college basketball coaches think Sha's run was not an accomplishment.
Yea fair. But if you’re a good coach, they will find you. Can’t argue with the money though. Even if he can’t get it done here, he and his family will be set for life. There is a lot to be said for that.
Like Matt Flynn’s one career game with the Packers that landed him a huge contract with the Seahawks, only to never even start a game in Seattle.
Hoping Sha doesn’t have the same career trajectory. Gotta win next year. An absolute must. Even Seton Hall can only be so patient.
We can argue records all we want. His only “good” year was last year and he still missed due to terrible metrics. I want him to succeed in the worst way. We all do. But he’s 0 for 3 and has to bounce back in a big way next year. At the very least, show us you learned something from your first 3 years playing with the big boys.
Yea pretty much but I didn’t say it’s not an accomplishment I said it’s looked at as fluke but probably a better way to say it is they would classify it as extremely overblown accomplishment…I think that’s a better categorization of it
I think you miss the point of what I’m saying
NO ONE sits around randomly saying you know what was a fluke…Shas St Peter’s run…I’m saying based off of their view of the sport no one is that impressed with that run the way WE hype it up..it’s viewed as a nice out of the blue run and winning 3 isolated random games
They emphasize the regular season and power conference records and doing it repeatedly as impressive
And they only speak of Sha when I have asked them directly..and I’ve said this for years…very few said he would succeed..and I’ve said that a lot..some of it is probably sour grapes but a lot of it has also been true
I also knew a player well that he recruited at St. Peter’s and I saw red flags there..which I have said numerous times too
People on here are still joking about Willard's lack of success in the NCAAT, yet they're ok with going from 6 of 7 tournaments to 0-3 as if our program was set back 12 years to 2010 and when we hired Sha we were trying to just rebuild our program from embarrassment back to relevance. That's an agenda. Remember when first weekend exits were getting tiresome for many? I was thrilled Willard got us to NCAA tournaments. I will be thrilled when we get there under Sha. If you told anyone in April 2022 the soonest we'd get to March Madness was March of 2026, they all would've said that's a failure. Losing in the first round was not a good season for many, but we can justify getting to the NIT as good season. Talk about agendas.
