Villanova Hires Kevin Willard
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He was here when I was on campus. Always liked the guy. He's really worked his way up and now has a big time job. Let's see if it works as Nova is going to put big money into their roster.
It’s sort of funny to me, take the Jay Wright years away and is Nova really a better job than Maryland? The Terps have that BiG16 money and all.
Historically speaking, yes. Take away the Lefty Driesell and Gary Williams years and Maryland's resume is pretty thin in comparison. FWIW Jay Wright was relatively slow to develop 'Nova into a national power in their eyes. I go back about 60 years and 'Nova has always been good except for the years between Massimino and Wright. And now. JMO
I mean if you take out the Wright years, then does that mean you can take out the Gary Williams years at Maryland?
They made the Final Four in 2001 and 2002. Only title was with Gary Williams
NOVA had 3 Final Fours before Jay Wright and a title.
No NCAA Champion from Big 10 since 2000!
The Big East has had EIGHT since then...same for ACC.
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You have Pitino, Pitino Jr, and Willard all in the same conference now. Should make some interesting match ups.
You KNOW all 3 of them are loving this...competing like dogs when they play each other though at the same time!
I mean take away the Hickman, Crum, Kelsey, and Pitino years, ...
Since the 74-75 season, fifty years, they’ve had 18 seasons of less than 10 losses. Of those 18 seasons 12 of them were coached by Jay Wright. So since 74-75 they’ve had 6 seasons of less than 10 losses without Jay Wright as their coach.
I know they’ve been excellent the last 15 years but all that success is linked to one coach. Without him, and in the current state of college sports, I think they are gonna be mid, but luckily for them they hired a very mid coach.
I know they’ve been excellent the last 15 years but all that success is linked to one coach. Without him, and in the current state of college sports, I think they are gonna be mid, but luckily for them they hired a very mid coach.
I think if we remove Adam and Eve there's not much left to talk about.
But no half seriously it feels like a lot of these guys are recycling. I think I heard Buzz from A&M really wants the Maryland job.
But no half seriously it feels like a lot of these guys are recycling. I think I heard Buzz from A&M really wants the Maryland job.
I get what you’re saying, but it is kind of rude to pick “less than 10 losses” as a standard when Nova’s 1985 NC team was 25-10!
As far as Maryland versus Nova is concerned, it’s clearly a lateral move at best, but I tend to think Willard didn’t like his prospects at Maryland (he was heavily criticized last year after going 16-17), and with his athletic director at Maryland leaving, he decided to hit the reset button at Villanova.
As far as Maryland versus Nova is concerned, it’s clearly a lateral move at best, but I tend to think Willard didn’t like his prospects at Maryland (he was heavily criticized last year after going 16-17), and with his athletic director at Maryland leaving, he decided to hit the reset button at Villanova.
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10 losses was arbitrary……and easy to count on sports reference!
Excellent read, if you care to know the details…. Very slanted toward the Maryland viewpoint… Willard was less than impressed with Maryland’s seeming lack of interest in competing for championships in basketball.
www.cbssports.com
'He played us like a drum': Inside Kevin Willard's turbulent Maryland departure
Highlighting a fight that is brewing on college campuses, Willard wanted a bigger piece of the pie than Maryland could offer
www.cbssports.com
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Speak for yourself. Counting to 10 can be a challenge. Especially beers.
Maryland has always been a strange program. It was cool how they gave the Carolinas the bird though.Excellent read, if you care to know the details…. Very slanted toward the Maryland viewpoint… Willard was less than impressed with Maryland’s seeming lack of interest in competing for championships in basketball.
'He played us like a drum': Inside Kevin Willard's turbulent Maryland departure
Highlighting a fight that is brewing on college campuses, Willard wanted a bigger piece of the pie than Maryland could offer
They won a title with another coach.
3 Titles, which is 8th all time
7 Final Fours, which is tied for 10th all time
65.5% winning and that's 10th all-time
So they're easily a top 10 program. If you take out Wright's success and you take out Denny's success, our programs are even just about in terms of titles and Final Fours.
We’ve had success since Denny, will Villanova have success after Wright? Perhaps.
I’m just stating my opinion that a sort of mid program hired a very mid coach.
That was basically Willard’s gripe with Maryland … that they wanted championship results with mid-level NIL commitment. That’s not his goal, so he went somewhere that basketball is not second choice to football. Whatever you want to say about Villanova, their basketball program doesn’t take a back seat to football.
You keep ignoring they had a title and three final fours BEFORE Jay Wright. Or do you not know about their 1985 title? They had success BEFORE Jay Wright is my point. 3 different coaches led them to a Final Four before Jay Wright. They won A TITLE before Jay Wright.
We went from 1986 until 2005 without a Final Four.
They went from 1985 until 2009 without a Final Four.
We went from 1986 until 2013 in between National Titles
They went from 1985 until 2016 between National Titles
Denny had 6 of our 10 Final Fours and 2 of our 3 Titles
Wright had 4 of their 7 Final Fours and 2 of their 3 titles
We have had more success, but it's a much closer margin than you're admitting. I'm just saying, College Basketball history didn't just begin in the last 20 years. Nova was a respected program before Jay Wright. He did elevate them from really good to easy top ten, but they've had success without him.
Villanova has been a strong program. Maybe underrated. I'm not sure Willard is a strong HC. One 2nd weekend in 15 years. But I'm not sure there's too many strong coaches anyway.
Not sure how Villanova sizes up on NIL/portal era but same can be said for a lot of programs. They haven't hit much yet. But maybe the last guy didn't have it.
Not sure how Villanova sizes up on NIL/portal era but same can be said for a lot of programs. They haven't hit much yet. But maybe the last guy didn't have it.
KW's win percentage as a coach is .574. Other than his recent comments about Maryland's lack of support, he handles himself well in press conferences and interviews. Maybe he interviews well. Maybe he's got connections. Well, there's no maybe about it. Willard is connected. But, when the ball is tipped, he's slightly above average as a coach.
You can make ALOT of money being "slightly above average" in top level "college" bb.
After Kenny Payne, I can respect an above average coach lol
I went to the University of Maryland and I was talking to a friend of mine who went to Maryland the same time as me. He lives In Baltimore and he is a big Maryland fan. Last night we were talking about how CPK has turned the Louisville program around in year one. He was really excited what Willard was doing at Maryland but he is struggling to get the administration to invest in the basketball program.
They play their games in their on campus arena. Willard wanted to upgrade the facilities and increase NIL money but he wasn’t having any luck. Maryland might have B1G money but they are using for their athletics. I wonder what the B1G Conference thinks about that?
They play their games in their on campus arena. Willard wanted to upgrade the facilities and increase NIL money but he wasn’t having any luck. Maryland might have B1G money but they are using for their athletics. I wonder what the B1G Conference thinks about that?
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