New Maryland head coach Kevin Willard has his sights on bolstering the Terrapins recruiting presence in the DMV area. A day after he reportedly poached Ohio State assistant Tony Skinn, who has ties to the DMV area, Willard is hiring former Rhode Island head coach David Cox, according to Jeff Ermann of Inside MD Sports.
Cox also has ties to the Washington, D.C. area. He was fired last week after four seasons leading the Rams.
David Cox is a Washington, D.C. native. He played at St. John’s College High School (DC) before going to William & Mary. He’s been a recruiting titan in the area.
His coaching resume includes being an assistant at Pittsburgh. Then he joined John Thompson III staff at Georgetown from 2007-2010. He moved on as an assistant at Rutgers from 2010-2014, including a short stint as the interim coach for the Scarlet Knights.
Cox joined Dan Hurley’s staff at Rhode Island in 2014. Then replaced Hurley in 2018 after Hurley left to become the head coach at Connecticut.
In four seasons, Cox was 64-55 overall with the Rams. While there, Cox consistently recruited players from the DMV area. That included the Mitchell twins who transferred from Maryland after a falling out with former head coach Mark Turgeon.
The additions of Skinn and Cox will bolster the Terrapins’ recruiting presence in the area that has been lacking in recent years under Turgeon. Credit Willard, a New Jersey native, for identifying two prominent area coaches that are familiar with the high schools and AAU scene around the nation’s capital and Baltimore.
Maybe now Maryland will attract talent from schools such as DeMatha, Paul VI, St. John’s and other private and public programs in the DC-Baltimore corridor.
