Maryland officially hires Kevin Willard as new basketball coach

Maryland’s long-speculated men’s basketball hire is now official.

The university announced Monday morning that it has hired Kevin Willard as its new head coach. Willard spent the last 12 seasons at Seton Hall and coached the Pirates to five NCAA tournament appearances, one Big East tournament title and one Big East regular season championship.

Willard, 46, inherited a Seton Hall program mired in mediocrity and built it into a consistent Big East contender. He coached the Pirates to seven seasons with at least 20 wins and had an overall record of 225-161 with the program. Much of that success — five NCAA tournament appearances and six seasons of 20-plus wins — came over the last seven seasons.

Before his time at Seton Hall, Willard had a three-year stint as the head coach at Iona. He also was an assistant coach at Louisville and with the Boston Celtics.

At Maryland, Willard replaces Mark Turgeon, who stepped down in December. Danny Manning coached the Terps for the remainder of the season on an interim basis and the team finished with a 15-17 record with a 7-13 mark in Big Ten play.

"We are excited about the future of Maryland basketball with Kevin leading the way. Known for his gritty, hard-working teams, Kevin has had tremendous success, winning conference championships and leading his teams to NCAA Tournaments,” Maryland athletic director Damon Evans said.

Added Willard: "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. Thank you to President Pines and Damon Evans for trusting me to energize this proud program as we look to galvanize our passionate fanbase with a gritty, hard-working style of basketball.”

Willard embracing 'high expectations' at Maryland

Turgeon brought Maryland to the NCAA tournament five times but only once advanced past the Round of 32. Those early exits were a point of contention for a Maryland fanbase with large expectations. Willard is just 1-5 in NCAA tournament play, including Seton Hall’s first-round exit to TCU on Friday.

Willard said he “embraces the high expectations” that come with coaching at Maryland.

“I know how Terp fans feel about this team. I embrace the high expectations,” Willard said. “Skill development and a dedication to academic success will be cornerstones of our program and I can promise Terp Nation we will work to make them proud of this basketball team as we build winners on the court and in the classroom.”

Shaheen Holloway next at Seton Hall?

The speculation surrounding Willard’s potential departure to Maryland had begun to leak by the time Seton Hall’s first-round NCAA tournament game was played. After the game, Willard admitted it may have been his last at Seton Hall. He also publicly endorsed St. Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway as his replacement.

"I'll be honest with you. If I'm not here next year, I'd love, if Shaheen Holloway is here, that would be the happiest thing to happen to me," Willard said.

Holloway played at Seton Hall and spent more than a decade as an assistant for Willard at both Iona and Seton Hall. He currently has St. Peter’s in the Sweet 16 as a No. 15 seed following upset victories over No. 2 seed Kentucky and No. 7 Murray State.

Multiple outlets have reported that Holloway is the favorite to take over as Seton Hall’s head coach once the St. Peter’s tournament run comes to an end.

Holloway, a New York City native who played high school ball in North Jersey, was a star point guard at Seton Hall from 1996 to 2000. Holloway has been the head coach at St. Peter's since 2018.