Can Villanova rise into a championship contender again? Wildcats bank on Kevin Willard to lead them

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kevin Willard publicly campaigned — pleaded, really — during Maryland's run to the Sweet 16 for more from the university and athletic department for his Big Ten program.

More of everything — “fundamental changes," he called them — that really came down to more money, so much more, being funneled into basketball. Willard wanted Maryland to share its plan for revenue sharing with athletes and questioned how the Terrapins could ever be a “top tier” program as the race in college sports to outspend for players and all the adjacent bells and whistles nearly rivals professional levels.

Willard should have all the elements he needs to compete for a national championship, only now at Villanova.

His messy breakup with Maryland was completed Sunday when the 49-year-old coach was hired by a Villanova program that suffered through a March malaise over the last three seasons under the fired Kyle Neptune.

Willard had been linked to the Villanova job throughout the NCAA Tournament, where the Terps earned a No. 4 seed and reached the Sweet 16 before losing to Florida. Maryland went 27-9 this season and 14-6 in the Big Ten Conference.

“Coach Willard quickly stood out among an impressive pool of candidates during a comprehensive national search,” Villanova's president, the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, said in a statement. “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.”

Willard expressed concerns with the direction of Maryland's program on the eve of the Terps' opening game in the NCAA Tournament. He had not signed an extension before the tournament, a matter complicated when Maryland athletic director Damon Evans bolted the program for the same job at SMU.

“My biggest concerns in life right now: I don’t know who my boss is going to be,” Willard said last week asked if there was something Maryland could do to keep him. “The guy that brought me here who I really like and am appreciative of him bringing me to College Park is not here anymore, and I don’t know who we’re going to hire. And in today’s day and age, that worries me a little bit. I’m just being honest.”

Willard said Evans gave him a "term sheet” last Sunday, but he didn’t sign it because his focus was on the team. Willard had called out Maryland for a lack of support for the basketball program. Among the changes he wanted to see was with Maryland’s plan for revenue sharing with athletes. He said a majority was expected to go to the football team.

That won't be a problem at Villanova, where the Big East school competes in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Willard is one of the first big-name coaches to return to the Big East after years of defections — everyone from Buzz Williams to Sean Miller to Chris Mack to even Willard himself when he left Seton Hall for Maryland. But as Villanova became a Final Four power and UConn won back-to-back titles in 2023 and '24, the basketball conference has become attractive.

Just look at the job Rick Pitino did in his first season back in the Big East at St. John’s, leading the Red Storm to a No. 2 seed in the tournament.

And money helps. A lot.

A court settlement that would require colleges — for the first time — to pay athletes billions for their play is set for approval next week. Many schools have said that most of the up to $20.5 million they’ll pay out to their athletes as part of the $2.8 billion House settlement would go to football and men’s basketball players.

Look at Georgia. Athletic director Josh Brooks broke down the proposed distribution of the cash influx, saying the football program would earn 75% of that money while men's basketball would get 15% of the pie and the rest to women's basketball.

At Villanova and other Big East programs, the bulk of that war chest is going to men's basketball.

“In the Big East,” Duke athletic director Nina King told Yahoo, “their basketball revenue-share portion will be a lot more than what those of us can do who have Division I power football programs.”

The Wildcats need all the cash they can get from all sources and hope their well-heeled alumni will feel energized to stuff their NIL coffers after the program's free fall from college basketball’s elite.

Villanova fired Neptune earlier this month after a three-year run in which he succeeded Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright and failed to make the NCAA Tournament. Wright, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021, guided Villanova to titles in 2016 and 2018 and led the Wildcats to two other Final Four appearances before his 2022 retirement.

Neptune went 54-47 overall and 31-29 in the Big East in three seasons with the Wildcats, including a 19-14 record this season.

“Villanova Basketball has a deep tradition of excellence and a culture that is second to none in college basketball,” Willard said in a statement. “We are thrilled to be a part of it and join the Villanova community.”

The Wildcats will play in the new College Basketball Crown tournament against Colorado on Tuesday in Las Vegas under interim coach Mike Nardi.

Willard, who turns 50 on April 6, led Maryland to a 65-39 overall record in three seasons at the school, with two March Madness appearances in three seasons. This was his seventh NCAA Tournament berth overall after getting there five times with Seton Hall, and his first time in the Sweet 16.

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