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Kevin Willard

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Kevin Willard
Willard in 2012.
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamMaryland
ConferenceBig Ten
Record38–30 (.559)
Annual salary$4,000,000
Biographical details
Born (1975-04-06) April 6, 1975 (age 49)
Huntington, New York, U.S.
Playing career
1992–1993Western Kentucky
1994–1997Pittsburgh
Position(s)Point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1997–2001Boston Celtics (assistant)
2001–2007Louisville (assistant)
2007–2010Iona
2010–2022Seton Hall
2022–presentMaryland
Head coaching record
Overall308–240 (.562)
Tournaments2–6 (NCAA Division I)
1–1 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Big East tournament (2016)
Big East regular season (2020)
Awards
Big East Co-Coach of the Year (2016)
MAAC Coach of the Year (2010)

Kevin Schreiber Willard (born April 6, 1975) is an American college basketball coach and the current head men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Willard played basketball at Western Kentucky during the 1992–93 season (his freshman year) before transferring to Pittsburgh to finish his playing career.

Willard's father, Ralph Willard, was the associate head coach at Louisville and a former head men's basketball coach at Holy Cross, Pittsburgh, and Western Kentucky.

Willard started his coaching career in the NBA ranks, working on the bench with coach Rick Pitino of the Boston Celtics. After Pitino resigned from the Celtics in 2001, Willard followed him to Louisville, and spent the next six years there as his assistant.

He is the former head coach of Iona College, where he took over the reins after Jeff Ruland was fired after going 2–28 in 2007. Willard came to Iona after spending ten years as an assistant under Rick Pitino.[1] In his third season with Iona, Willard led the Gaels to the 14th 20-win season in program history. It was a nine-win improvement from his first two seasons in New Rochelle. After inheriting a program that was 10th to last in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI),[a] the Gaels improved to a Top 80 RPI in 2009–10, the highest turnaround over that time span in NCAA Division I. After completing the turnaround, on March 28, 2010, Willard accepted the head coaching position at Seton Hall University, a school that competes in the Big East Conference.[b] He led the Pirates to the 2016 Big East championship. On March 14, 2019, he became the first Pirates head coach to lead the team to four straight 20 win seasons.[2] After Seton Hall beat Rutgers University on December 12, 2021, Willard passed P.J. Carlesimo for second place in program history with 213 wins. Only Honey Russell (295) has more wins than Willard.[3] On March 21, 2022, Willard accepted the job to be the next head basketball coach at the University of Maryland.[4] Willard led the Terps to an NCAA Tournament bid in his first season as head coach. The team ended up beating West Virginia 67–65 in the Round of 64 before losing to Alabama 73–51 in the Round of 32.

Head coaching record

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Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Iona Gaels (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) (2007–2010)
2007–08 Iona 12–20 8–10 7th
2008–09 Iona 12–19 7–11 7th
2009–10 Iona 21–10 12–6 3rd
Iona: 45–49 (.479) 27–27 (.500)
Seton Hall Pirates (Big East Conference) (2010–2022)
2010–11 Seton Hall 13–17 7–11 12th
2011–12 Seton Hall 21–13 8–10 10th NIT Second Round
2012–13 Seton Hall 15–18 3–15 13th
2013–14 Seton Hall 17–17 6–12 8th
2014–15 Seton Hall 16–15 6–12 T–7th
2015–16 Seton Hall 25–9 12–6 3rd NCAA Division I Round of 64
2016–17 Seton Hall 21–12 10–8 T–3rd NCAA Division I Round of 64
2017–18 Seton Hall 22–12 10–8 T–3rd NCAA Division I Round of 32
2018–19 Seton Hall 20–14 9–9 T–3rd NCAA Division I Round of 64
2019–20 Seton Hall 21–9 13–5 T–1st NCAA Division I Canceled
2020–21 Seton Hall 14–13 10–9 5th
2021–22 Seton Hall 21–11 11–8 T–5th NCAA Division I Round of 64
Seton Hall: 225–161 (.583) 105–113 (.482)
Maryland Terrapins (Big Ten Conference) (2022–present)
2022–23 Maryland 22–13 11–9 T–5th NCAA Division I Round of 32
2023–24 Maryland 16–17 7–13 T–12th
Maryland: 38–30 (.559) 18–22 (.450)
Total: 308–240 (.562)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Footnotes

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  1. ^ The RPI was one of the primary metrics used in the NCAA basketball tournament selection process until being replaced by the NCAA Evaluation Tool in 2018.
  2. ^ At the time Willard took the Seton Hall position, the school was a member of the original Big East Conference. When the Big East split in 2013, three schools left to join the Atlantic Coast Conference; Seton Hall and six other schools left to form a new conference that purchased the "Big East" name; and the remaining schools continued in operation under the original Big East charter with the new name of American Athletic Conference. The current Big East recognizes the history of the pre-2013 Big East as its own.

References

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  1. ^ "Willard takes over for Ruland at Iona". ESPN.com. April 10, 2007. Retrieved July 6, 2007.
  2. ^ "Reports: Seton Hall to hire Willard". ESPN.com. March 28, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
  3. ^ "Rutgers vs. Seton Hall - Game Recap - December 12, 2021 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  4. ^ "Maryland hires Kevin Willard: Seton Hall coach joins Terps after leading Pirates to five NCAA Tournaments".
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