Kevin Willard of Maryland accepted Wilnova’s proposal to become the next head coach of the program, sources confirmed ESPN, ending speculation more than a week.
An official announcement may come in early Sunday.
Maryland has completed one of their best sessions in the last 20 years, earned 4-seed in NCAA tournament and scored a run on Sweet 16 before falling into top seeded Florida. Terrapans overtook 27–9 and 14–6 in Big Ten in total and most of the forecasts ranked in the top 10 in the metrics. After the beginning of 1-3 for Big Ten Play, Maryland lost just four games for Big Ten opponents, with nine points combined in the rest of the season.
Willard spent three seasons at the college park, with two NCAA tournaments with 65–39.
He made headlines before Grand Canyon’s first -round NCAA tournament game when he made the news of Maryland Athletic Director Deman Evans essentially for SMU and explained why he had not signed a new contract in the college park.
“I need to make a fundamental change in the program,” Willard said. “That’s why I am focusing right now. So perhaps there is no deal because I want to see – I need to see fundamental changes. I want this program to be great. I want it to be the best in the country, I want to win a national championship, but there are things that need to change.
“I need to make sure that we are where we are with Nil, and the rave shares are not where we have been with Neil in the last two years. We are one of the worst, if the lowest, not in the last two years, in the last two years. So, it’s first and foremost, where I want to do with my program. It can not do so because it is very expensive.
As Maryland knocked the Grand Canyon and Colorado State to pursue the first Sweet 16 of Willard and the first, the head coach’s message has not changed for Terraps since 2016. He admitted after the loss of sweet 16 of Maryland in Florida on Thursday that he did not know his next step.
“I don’t know what I am doing,” Willard said. “I will be honest with you. I have not talked to my agent. I have not talked to my wife.”
In Wilnoova, Willard Kyller would replace Neptune, which failed to reach the NCAA tournament in its three sessions of Wildcats. Neptune took over in 2022 after the sudden retirement of the hall of fame coach J Wright, who led Wilnova two national championships and four last four demonstrations.
It symbolizes a return to the Big East for Willard, a long island, New York, which spends 12 seasons as a head coach in the Seton Hall. He led Pirates a part of the five NCAA tournament performance and a part of the Big East Regular-Seasons title in 2020-when the event was on track for the tournament seeds for the tournament for the tournament.
Before taking over in Seton Hall, Willard was the head coach in Iona for three sessions and an assistant coach under Rick Pitino in Louisville and Boston Celtics. Willard’s father, Ralph, had spent time on the employees of Pitino at several stops earlier.
The news of Willard, which accepted Wilnova’s proposal, was first reported inside the Maryland Sports.
