After a week of speculation that often overshadowed his team’s run to the Sweet 16, Maryland men’s basketball coach Kevin Willard is leaving College Park to become the head coach at Villanova.
The school made Willard’s hiring official Sunday.
‘Coach Willard quickly stood out among an impressive pool of candidates during a comprehensive national search,’ Villanova University President Rev. Peter M. Donohue said in a news release.
Willard led the Terrapins to a 27-9 record this past season, including a pair of wins in the NCAA Tournament before they fell to top-seeded Florida on Thursday.
Along the way, Willard’s name popped up as a leading candidate for the Villanova job, though he kept insisting he hadn’t thought about the possibility.
‘I don’t know what I’m doing,’ he said after the 87-71 loss. ‘I haven’t talked to my agent. I haven’t talked to my wife. I made a promise to this team that I was gonna just focus on this team, and that’s all I’ve done. So, I haven’t talked to anybody.’
The fourth-seeded Terps provided one of the most exciting moments in this year’s tournament when freshman Derik Queen’s buzzer-beater lifted them over Colorado State.
But all along, there was speculation Williard would leave at season’s end. He blamed the media for the controversy, but some fans weren’t buying it, even booing Willard as he left the team hotel for Thursday’s game.
Williard conceded he would ‘have to take everything into consideration’ when making a decision about his future.
Over his three seasons at Maryland, Willard’s teams compiled a 65-39 record with two NCAA tournament appearances. He returns to the Big East after previously serving as Seton Hall’s coach for 12 seasons before taking the Maryland job.