Kevin Willard is rumored to be leaving South Orange, New Jersey for College Park, Maryland. The Seton Hall head coach has been linked to the Maryland opening.
Following Seton Hall’s NCAA Tournament exit Friday, Willard addressed the Maryland rumors.
“I’ll give you exactly what I can tell you,” Willard said per Wes Brown of Inside MD Sports. “I have an agent who I haven’t talked to yet. I haven’t talked to, I don’t know who he’s talking to. I have absolutely no idea. But when I get home tomorrow I’ll talk to my agent and discuss things.”
That certainly leaves the door open to the idea. He didn’t shoot it down, and of course didn’t confirm the rumors were true. But what he said next was more telling.
Willard continued on and gave a public endorsement for his replacement.
“I’ll be honest: If I’m not here next year, if Shaheen Holloway is here, that would be the happiest thing that ever happened to me,” Willard said per Brown.
Shaheen Holloway is currently the head coach at Saint Peter’s. Holloway just coached St. Peter’s to the biggest upset of this year’s NCAA Tournament beating No. 2 seed Kentucky.
Holloway played at Seton Hall from 1996-2000. He was also Willard’s assistant at Seton Hall from 2010-2018 before leaving for Saint Peter’s. There has been a fair amount of Pirates fans that have been clamoring for Holloway to replace Willard.
The Saint Peter’s team and athletic director may not be all that pleased with Willard’s endorsement as the team prepares for their Round of 32 matchup against Murray State. But there is no secret Holloway would be a prime target for Seton Hall.
For Kevin Willard, the news Maryland closing in on him for their head coach hasn’t drawn the best reaction of those following the Terrapins closely.
In the 12 seasons at Seton Hall, Willard has managed to make the Pirates a perennial NCAA Tournament participant. They’ve made five of the last six tournaments. They also have a Big East tournament title (2016) and Big East regular season title (2020).
However, he’s 1-5 in the NCAA Tournament. That’s including Friday’s 69-42 loss to TCU in the first round.
Maryland fans have longed for the program to get back to the glory days of Gary Williams. They didn’t with Mark Turgeon, who had a similar resume at Maryland as Willard has at Seton Hall.
Maybe a change of scenery and a solid recruiting ground of the DMV area will lead to better results if Willard is hired.
