ESPN’s Jeff Borzello reported on Sunday that Kevin Willard has been hired as Villanova’s new men’s basketball coach, and will leave Maryland after three seasons. Willard replaces Kyle Neptune, who was fired on March 15 after failing to make the NCAA tournament in any of his three seasons at Villanova. The Wildcats went 54-47 (.535) under Neptune.
The school officially announced Willard’s hiring on Sunday morning, with Villanova president Rev. Peter M. Donohue sharing in a statement: “Coach Willard quickly stood out among an impressive pool of candidates during a comprehensive national search. Throughout the process, Coach Willard demonstrated that he has the vision and experience to guide Villanova Basketball in the changing world of college athletics. Beyond his notable success on the court, we were also impressed by his ability to articulate how Villanova Basketball fits into the overarching mission of the University.”
Following his role as an assistant under Rick Pitino with the Boston Celtics and at Louisville, Willard began his head coaching career at Iona in 2007, registering a 45-49 record. He went on to spend 12 seasons as the head coach at Seton Hall (from 2010-2022), where the Pirates went 225-161 (.583). They also reached the NCAA tournament in five of his final seven seasons in charge and won a Big East title in 2020. After Seton Hall went 21-11 and made the NCAA tournament during the 2021-22 campaign, Maryland hired Willard.
Willard, 49, just finished his best season at Maryland, in which the Terrapins went 27-9 and reached the Sweet 16 in the 2025 NCAA tournament. Their 2024-25 season ended with an 87-71 loss to Florida on Thursday. He had been discussing a contract extension that reportedly would have made him one of the 10 highest-paid coaches in college basketball, but his frustration with the program went public, and he cited athletic director Damon Evans leaving for SMU as a reason a new contract hadn’t been worked out, saying “it’s kind of tough to negotiate with somebody that’s maybe not here.”
After news broke of Willard’s move to Villanova, Maryland president Darryll J. Pines said in a statement that a national search was underway to replace him: “We took a very proactive and aggressive approach to retain Coach Willard, offering a significant contract extension and salary increase, new staff, and one of the highest revenue-share budgets in the B1G Conference. We had long and thoughtful conversations about the program and shared the same vision for Maryland Basketball.”
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