The worst-kept secret in college basketball became official Monday morning: Kevin Willard is leaving Seton Hall for Maryland.
Rumors of this possibility heated up late last week, and after Willard didn’t just deny them following the Pirates’ ugly loss to TCU in the NCAA Tournament, but campaigned for Saint Peter’s coach Shaheen Holloway to be his replacement, it became obvious his days in South Orange, N.J., were coming to an end.
Willard will reportedly make $24.9 million over seven years, which is a major raise. According to a source, his base salary at Seton Hall this past season was $2.4 million.
“Every once in a while timing and opportunity line up,” Willard told The Post. “I’ve always admired the Maryland job for its great players and legendary coaches. It has a great fan base and is great university. Knowing that my program was going to go to [Holloway], it was the perfect fit and great timing. It was now or never in my mind.”
At Maryland, Willard replaces interim coach Danny Manning, who took over when Mark Turgeon parted ways with the school in December. Turgeon made five NCAA Tournaments and one Sweet 16 in 11 seasons, but expectations were higher. The Terrapins are coming off their first losing season since 1992-93.
The 46-year-old Willard leaves after rebuilding the program that had fallen onto hard times prior to his arrival 12 years ago. Willard guided Seton Hall to five NCAA Tournament trips in the last six opportunities, six 20-win seasons in the last seven years and seven straight top-five finishes in the Big East. He departs Seton Hall with a 225-161 record. Holloway, Willard’s assistant for eight seasons at Seton Hall and a former star at the school, is expected to replace him once Saint Peter’s magical run in the NCAA Tournament comes to a close.
Willard met with Maryland higher-ups on Sunday afternoon to hammer out the final details of the contract. Three years ago, he nearly left for Virginia Tech. But when the Big Ten job opened up, and the school zeroed in on Willard, he decided the time was right to move on. He broke the news to the team Monday morning.
The Long Island native, who worked for six years under Rick Pitino at Louisville, came to Seton Hall in 2010 after three seasons as the Iona coach. His first five years were rough with just one NIT berth. But it all turned with a blockbuster recruiting class led by five-star Brooklyn native Isaiah Whitehead. To land Whitehead, and ignite the program, Willard made an outside-the-box hire of Dwayne “Tiny” Morton as an assistant coach. Whitehead helped the Pirates win the 2016 Big East Tournament title, the school’s first in 23 years, and that class won Seton Hall’s first NCAA Tournament game in 18 seasons in 2018.
Willard’s one shortcoming came in March, in the form of a 1-5 NCAA Tournament record. His best team, the 2020 tri-Big East regular-season champions, never got a chance in the dance when the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19. Frequent January slides always lowered his teams’ ceilings. But he made Seton Hall nationally relevant with challenging non-conference schedules and by creating a culture of grit, determination and hard work. He frequently landed quality players from the area and they routinely improved. He developed unheralded recruits such as Myles Powell, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Jared Rhoden into All-Big East first-team selections.
Simply put, Willard made Seton Hall matter again. The program is in a far better place now than when he inherited it 12 years ago.