Maryland hires Seton Hall’s Kevin Willard
Maryland’s long-speculated males’s basketball rent is now official.
The college introduced Monday morning that it has employed Kevin Willard as its new head coach. Willard spent the final 12 seasons at Seton Corridor and coached the Pirates to 5 NCAA match appearances, one Massive East match title and one Massive East common season championship.
Willard, 46, inherited a Seton Corridor program mired in mediocrity and constructed it right into a constant Massive East contender. He coached the Pirates to seven seasons with a minimum of 20 wins and had an general document of 225-161 with this system. A lot of that success — 5 NCAA match appearances and 6 seasons of 20-plus wins — got here over the past seven seasons.
Earlier than his time at Seton Corridor, Willard had a three-year stint as the top coach at Iona. He additionally was an assistant coach at Louisville and with the Boston Celtics.
At Maryland, Willard replaces Mark Turgeon, who stepped down in December. Danny Manning coached the Terps for the rest of the season on an interim foundation and the crew completed with a 15-17 document with a 7-13 mark in Massive Ten play.
According to NJ.com, Willard’s new deal spans 5 years and is value $22 million.
“We’re enthusiastic about the way forward for Maryland basketball with Kevin main the way in which. Identified for his gritty, hard-working groups, Kevin has had large success, profitable convention championships and main his groups to NCAA Tournaments,” Maryland athletic director Damon Evans stated.
Added Willard: “Rising up and training within the area, I’ve at all times admired Maryland basketball. Being named head coach of one of many nation’s premier basketball applications is an amazing honor. Thanks to President Pines and Damon Evans for trusting me to energise this proud program as we glance to impress our passionate fanbase with a gritty, hard-working fashion of basketball.”
Willard embracing ‘excessive expectations’ at Maryland
Turgeon introduced Maryland to the NCAA match 5 groups however solely as soon as superior previous the Spherical of 32. These early exits have been some extent of rivalry for a Maryland fanbase with giant expectations. Willard is simply 1-5 in NCAA match play, together with Seton Corridor’s first-round exit to TCU on Friday.
Willard stated he “embraces the excessive expectations” that include teaching at Maryland.
“I understand how Terp followers really feel about this crew. I embrace the excessive expectations,” Willard stated. “Ability growth and a dedication to educational success will probably be cornerstones of our program and I can promise Terp Nation we are going to work to make them happy with this basketball crew as we construct winners on the court docket and within the classroom.”
Shaheen Holloway subsequent at Seton Corridor?
The hypothesis surrounding Willard’s potential departure to Maryland had begun to leak by the point Seton Corridor’s first-round NCAA match sport was performed. After the sport, Willard admitted it might have been his final at Seton Corridor. He additionally publicly endorsed St. Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway as his alternative.
“I will be sincere with you. If I am not right here subsequent yr, I might love, if Shaheen Holloway is right here, that will be the happiest factor to occur to me,” Willard stated.
Holloway performed at Seton Corridor and spent greater than a decade as an assistant for Willard at each Iona and Seton Corridor. He currently has St. Peter’s in the Sweet 16 as a No. 15 seed following upset victories over No. 2 seed Kentucky and No. 7 Murray State.
A number of retailers have reported that Holloway is the favourite to take over as Seton Corridor’s head coach as soon as the St. Peter’s match run involves an finish.
Holloway, a New York Metropolis native who performed highschool ball in North Jersey, was a star level guard at Seton Corridor from 1996 to 2000. Holloway has been the top coach at St. Peter’s since 2018.
