USATSI
The Maryland men’s basketball coaching search appears to finally be coming to an end. More than three months after the resignation of long-time coach Mark Turgeon, the Terrapins are expected to hire Kevin Willard from Seton Hall to be the program’s next head coach, according to 247Sports.
Willard, 46, took over the Pirates program in 2010 after three seasons leading the Iona program. The news comes one day after he coached in the program’s third-worst loss in NCAA Tournament history, falling 69-42 to No. 9 seed TCU. It was the fifth NCAA Tournament for the school under Willard and the fourth time it went one-and-done in the Dance.
Willard was asked after the game amid intensifying rumors of his Maryland interest point-blank if he was leaving Seton Hall, and he somewhat deflected but still gave a pretty raw answer.
“I’ll give you exactly what I can tell you. I have an agent who I haven’t talked to yet. I haven’t talked to,” he said. “I don’t know who he’s talking to. I have absolutely no idea. But when I get home I’ll talk to my agent and discuss things with my agent.”
Willard added a follow-up endorsement for Saint Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway that seemed to foreshadow where things may be headed.
“I’ll be honest with you,” he said. “If I’m not here next year, I’d love, if Shaheen Holloway is here, that would be the happiest thing to happen to me.”
Willard was 45-49 in his three seasons leading the Gaels but on the whole has been much more successful at Seton Hall, where he has accumulated a 225-161 record with a regular-season championship, a postseason championship and five NCAA Tournament berths. He’s set to step in at a Maryland program that has made just one Sweet 16 appearance since 2003 but has the resources to consistently be one of the top programs in the Big Ten.
