Kevin Willard and Maryland men’s basketball are working on a new contract to make Willard one of the top 10 highest paid coaches in college basketball, a team spokesperson confirmed to The Diamondback on Sunday.

The contract could give Maryland “one of the highest revenue share budgets in the country,” according to CBS’ Jon Rothstein, who first reported the negotiations.

Willard was reportedly a top candidate for Villanova, which fired coach Kyle Neptune on Saturday. But the third-year Maryland coach will instead stay in College Park, ending those rumors.

“What I can tell you is [athletic director] Damon Evans and I, he hired me. We’re on the same page of what we want to do for this program, what we want to do for this university,” Willard said. “So our focus right now is strictly the NCAA tournament and this team.”

[Maryland men’s basketball notebook: Terps enter postseason with best ranking since 2019-20]

Schools will be allowed to share revenue with their college athletes starting in the 2025-26 season as a result of the House v. NCAA case, changing the landscape of Name, Image and Likeness in college sports . Previous NIL rules let college athletes earn money, but not directly from the schools they attend.

Maryland already planned to share $20.5 million — the maximum allowable amount — with its players, though Rothstein’s report indicates the school could now spend a larger portion on its men’s basketball team.

One of the draws of the Villanova job is that it is not a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision, which means instead of using the majority of its revenue-sharing budget on football, a school such as Villanova could allot more to its men’s basketball program.

[Maryland men’s basketball earns No. 4 seed in NCAA tournament, tied for highest in decade]

Rothstein reported that the deal includes a $50 million dollar practice facility, though Maryland already broke ground on the Barry P. Gossett Basketball Performance Center in 2023.

Willard led the Terps to a surprising NCAA tournament berth in his first year at Maryland before a wildly disappointing 16-17 finish last season. Willard revamped the Terps’ roster this year and led them to a second-place finish in the Big Ten.

The one thing the coach’s resume needs is postseason success. He routinely led Seton Hall to March Madness but is just 2-6 in the NCAA tournament and has never reached the Sweet 16.

The Terps hope increased resources will raise Willard’s ceiling as they aim for a deep run in the tournament this month.