Kevin Willard is leaving Maryland men’s basketball to become the head coach at Villanova, according to a Villanova athletics release on Sunday.
Willard was hired in March 2022 and led the Terps for three seasons, compiling a 63-38 record with a 32-28 mark in Big Ten play. He guided them to the NCAA tournament twice, with their best run ending with a loss to Florida in the Sweet 16 on Thursday.
Willard, speaking with the media after the Terps’ 87-71 defeat, said he had “no idea” what he’d be doing going forward. He said he had to speak with his agent, but that he hadn’t talked to anyone about a potential job switch.
“When you’re at this point in your career, you’re looking at things,” Willard said. “I have to take everything into consideration about what’s going [on] moving forward. But I have not even talked to anybody, so I don’t know what I’m doing.”
[Kevin Willard, Maryland men’s basketball’s tumultuous timeline amid Villanova opening]
The 49-year-old was in the third season of a seven-year contract. He made $500,000 in base salary and $3.6 million in supplemental annual income this season, according to his contract, which The Diamondback obtained through a public records request.
Former Maryland athletic director Damon Evans previously said the university will spend the maximum allotted amount of $20.5 million when revenue sharing begins on July 1, though a large portion of that is expected to go toward the Terps’ football program.
“We took a very proactive and aggressive approach to retain Coach Willard, offering a significant contract extension and salary increase, new staff, and one of the highest revenue-share budgets in the B1G Conference,” president Darryll Pines said in a release announcing Willard’s departure. “In the end, he made the choice that he felt was best for him and his family.”
Willard is likely to receive increased funding at Villanova, a school that competes in the Football Championship Subdivison and has recently had immense basketball success.
Willard has ties to Villanova and the Big East. He coached at Seton Hall for 12 years and won Big East Co-Coach of the Year in 2016.
It’s unclear how many players Maryland will return for next season. Derik Queen is likely to depart for the NBA, while Julian Reese and Selton Miguel are out of eligibility. Players with remaining eligibility include Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Rodney Rice, Tafara Gapare and DeShawn Harris-Smith.
