Maryland hires Seton Hall’s Kevin Willard as basketball coach

Kevin Willard and Maryland each achieved a level of success over the previous decade.

Now they’re teaming up within the hope that greater and higher issues are on the horizon.

Willard is taking up as Maryland’s basketball coach after a dozen seasons at Seton Corridor. The Terrapins introduced the rent Monday, three days after Seton Corridor’s season ended with a loss to TCU within the NCAA Match. Willard took the Pirates to 5 of the final six NCAA tournaments, though they made the second spherical solely as soon as.

Maryland, in the meantime, has made the second spherical 4 instances since 2015, however with just one Candy 16 look. The Terrapins had been out there for a brand new coach after Mark Turgeon’s departure in early December. Assistant Danny Manning took over as interim coach, and the Terps went 15-17 for his or her first dropping season since 1993.

“I’ve all the time admired the Maryland basketball program, and being named the brand new head coach of one of many greatest manufacturers in school basketball is an incredible honor,” Willard stated in an announcement. “Thanks to President (Darryll) Pines and (athletic director) Damon Evans for trusting me to re-energize this proud program as we glance to provoke our passionate fan base with a gritty, hard-working type of basketball. Having coached towards Maryland a number of instances and at XFINITY Middle, I understand how Terp followers really feel about their crew and perceive their expectations.”

These expectations are excessive. When Willard arrived at Seton Corridor, the Pirates had missed the NCAAs 4 straight years. In that context, he introduced this system to a better degree. Maryland, alternatively, received a nationwide title in 2002 underneath Gary Williams. That is who Turgeon adopted, and the outcomes weren’t as much as that commonplace, significantly within the NCAA Match.

So Willard strikes from the Large East to the Large Ten after seven 20-win seasons with the Pirates.

“Kevin Willard was a confirmed winner within the Large East whereas at Seton Corridor,” Williams stated. “The depth degree of his groups mirror the eagerness that Kevin will carry to our crew and the college.”

Maryland scheduled a information convention for Tuesday night time.

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“We’re thrilled to welcome Kevin to the Terrapin household,” Evans stated. “We’re enthusiastic about the way forward for Maryland basketball with Kevin main the way in which.”

Willard received 225 video games at Seton Corridor, surpassing P.J. Carlesimo earlier this season for second place on the varsity’s profession checklist. The Pirates received the Large East Match in 2016 and a regular-season title in 2020. In that respect, Willard endured an analogous destiny to Turgeon — they arguably had their greatest groups at Seton Corridor and Maryland in 2020, when the NCAA Match was known as off due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Terps tied for first within the Large Ten that season.

After Seton Corridor was eradicated from this 12 months’s NCAA Match, Willard candidly stated if he wasn’t again with the Pirates, he’d love for Shaheen Holloway to be there. Holloway, who performed at Seton Corridor, coached Fifteenth-seeded Saint Peter’s into the Candy 16 this 12 months; the Peacocks face Purdue later this week.

Seton Corridor stated it could start a seek for Willard’s successor.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Kevin for 10 of his 12 years right here at Seton Corridor, and I wish to thank him for his phenomenal management of our males’s basketball program and for serving to our student-athletes turn into the absolute best variations of themselves,” Seton Corridor athletic director Bryan Felt stated. “Kevin got here in and instantly modified the tradition of our program and constructed it right into a perennial Large East championship and NCAA Match contender with student-athletes who succeed within the classroom and signify the college in a first-class method.”

Earlier than taking up the Seton Corridor program, Willard coached Iona for 3 seasons. His father Ralph coached Western Kentucky, Pittsburgh and Holy Cross, successful 336 video games and going to the NCAA Match six instances.