Willard signed a seven-year contract that begins at $3.9 million this season — greater than Turgeon made at $3.3 million — and will increase by $100,000 every season, per a college spokesman.
Willard compiled a 225-161 file at Seton Hall, and the 46-year-old has additionally served as the top coach at Iona for 3 seasons and as an assistant at Louisville. During Willard’s time at Seton Hall, the Pirates reached the NCAA event 5 instances however superior to the second spherical simply as soon as. This season, Seton Hall earned a No. 8 seed and exited early with a 69-42 loss in opposition to No. 9 TCU within the first spherical.
“Growing up and coaching in the region, I have always admired Maryland basketball. Being named head coach of one of the nation’s premier basketball programs is a tremendous honor,” Willard mentioned in a press release supplied by the college. “Thank you to President [Darryll] Pines and Damon Evans for trusting me to energize this proud program as we look to galvanize our passionate fan base with a gritty, hard-working style of basketball.”
Willard’s greatest Seton Hall crew misplaced its likelihood to make a run within the NCAA event, probably as a No. 3 seed, when the 2020 postseason was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Seton Hall gained the Big East event in 2016 and shared the common season convention title in 2020. His Seton Hall groups completed with at the very least 20 wins seven instances, together with a 21-11 file this season. The Pirates confronted Maryland in December 2018 and December 2019, and Willard’s groups gained each instances. Those video games have been a part of nonconference slates that always included matchups with major-conference packages.
Even although Willard hasn’t led a crew to a deep postseason run, Maryland presumably hopes that the larger sources at a Big Ten program and a fertile native recruiting space will enable him to take action in College Park.
“We are excited about the future of Maryland basketball with Kevin leading the way,” Evans mentioned in a press release. “… He has made a habit of scheduling challenging opponents and winning in those games as evidenced by his record against Big Ten teams in recent years. He has familiarity with the region, being a native New Yorker and having spent much of his life in the Northeast Corridor.”
Evans has mentioned that the expectation at Maryland is to compete for Big Ten and nationwide titles, which is what the fan base has craved for the reason that retirement of Gary Williams. Turgeon led the Terps to a shared Big Ten common season title however by no means additional than the Sweet 16 within the NCAA event. That Sweet 16 look in 2016 — a season throughout which Maryland ascended as excessive as No. 2 within the Associated Press ballot — is the one time this system has made it that far within the postseason since 2003, a 12 months after Williams’s 2002 crew gained the nationwide title.
Turgeon’s groups generally sparked buzz and generated lofty expectations, however the lone convention title and NCAA event runs that often didn’t final past the occasion’s first weekend left Maryland followers wanting extra.
Even as Turgeon agreed to a contract extension coming into his eleventh season with the Terrapins, the athletic division didn’t provide a robust endorsement of the coach, leaving his long-term future at Maryland unsure. The new contract signed final offseason was structured in a method that wouldn’t pressure Maryland as a lot financially if it needed to maneuver on from Turgeon.
The Terps’ disappointing 2021-22 season ended with a loss in opposition to Michigan State of their first recreation of the Big Ten event, sealing a dropping file for the primary time since 1993.
Even although the Terps (15-17, 7-13 Big Ten) struggled, Maryland nonetheless has proficient gamers on its roster — significantly rising seniors Donta Scott and Hakim Hart, together with beginning middle Qudus Wahab and Julian Reese, a Baltimore native who simply completed his freshman season. Coaching adjustments usually coincide with vital roster turnover, but when these prime gamers select to remain at Maryland, they’ll be a major enhance in Willard’s rebuilding course of. Otherwise, Willard might want to search for ready-to-play transfers.
Willard is thought as a coach who can develop gamers. During his time at Seton Hall, Myles Powell and Sandro Mamukelashvili changed into Big East gamers of the 12 months. Willard didn’t usher in splashy recruiting lessons, however he persistently constructed event groups. At Maryland, he ought to be capable of entice gamers of a better caliber, and he’ll have to recruit effectively to maintain up with the expertise within the Big Ten.
Given the odd timing of Turgeon’s departure, Evans had greater than three months to enlist the assistance of a search agency to gauge the curiosity of candidates and establish the best coach. He landed on Willard, who will inevitably be given time to implement his imaginative and prescient for this system. But after that, he’ll have to rise to the expectations that haven’t been met right here in twenty years and carry Maryland again towards nationwide prominence.