When a young Kevin Willard graduated college, he went from working under one old-school coach to another.

Willard played three seasons for his father, Ralph, at Western Kentucky and Pitt from 1993 to 1997. He was then hired onto Rick Pitino’s staff with the Boston Celtics in 1997, which jumpstarted his new career.

Ralph Willard and Pitino were the two biggest influences on Kevin Willard’s coaching philosophy. He’s had to shift many of his principles through his 18-year head coaching career with the evolution of college basketball — but there’s at least one tradition he’s kept untouched.

The Terps’ staff has worn suits in almost every game since Willard took over as head coach in 2022. In an age where dressing formally on the sidelines is a lost art, Willard said he continues to do so out of respect for the game, the institutions he works for and the people who shaped him.

“I think my father is one of the best coaches that’s ever coached. From the high school level to the college level, he wore a suit,” Willard said. “And then coach Pitino — I mean, if you had your shirt untucked the wrong way, he’d let you know about it.”

Only some Big Ten coaching staffs have worn suits this season. According to Willard, nearly every coach wore a suit before the COVID-19 pandemic, but that largely stopped during the year-and-a-half period.

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“When we came back to pretty much normal, I wanted to get back to normal,” Willard said.

Willard witnessed the level of professionalism Ralph Willard brought to the game firsthand — that began with how he dressed. He said his father began to wear a turtleneck under his suit as he got older, which he called “kind of weird, but he’s not the most normal guy.”

Willard coached under Pitino for 10 years with the Celtics and at Louisville. Pitino has long carried a reputation as a hard-nosed coach who doesn’t hesitate to call out his players when needed. He publicly apologized last season after criticizing four players and his coaching staff and calling his team “so non-athletic that we cannot guard anyone without fouling.”

Willard heard similar remarks — the coach said he had “gotten a little heavy” from his playing days when he got to Louisville. He walked into a coaches meeting one morning to a surprise demand from Pitino.

“You’re getting a little fat,” Willard remembered Pitino saying on The Field of 68’s After Dark podcast. “Go on the treadmill.”

Willard arrived in the training room, where Louisville’s trainer was waiting for him. He asked how long he’d have to run on the treadmill, to which the trainer responded, “Until you get in shape … [which] from the looks of it, [could be] pretty long,” Willard recalled.

Willard likely isn’t as stern with his staff, but Maryland associate head coach David Cox said Willard imparted his suit tradition on them once they joined the program. Cox, who headed Rhode Island from 2018 to 2022, said it’s typical for old-school coaches to “dress the part.”

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Cox compared leading a college basketball program to being a CEO, and said Willard runs the program like a professional organization. Assistant coach Greg Manning Jr. joked that although wearing suits can be a little more expensive, he doesn’t mind dressing up every now and then.

Another Pitino disciple, UCLA coach Mick Cronin, worked alongside Willard at Louisville from 2001 to 2003. He still wears suits to every game. Given their shared roots, it’s not surprising Cronin opts for the same attire.

“Mick is the head coach at UCLA. I’m the head coach at the University of Maryland. Those are big jobs,” Willard said. “I mean, John Wooden coached there. I didn’t see John Wooden coaching in a sweatshirt.”

Willard knows lots of coaches don’t feel the same. He’s fine with that.

No matter how well-dressed a coaching staff is, what really matters is their number of victories — Willard just prefers that his wins come in suits to honor the pair of coaches who molded him.

“Matt Painter, I think he wore a polo all year. I’d take his year over me wearing a suit anytime,” Willard said about the Purdue coach, who led the national runner-up last season. “So different birds, different animals, man.”