Kevin Willard on planning for Maryland's future, Harris-Smith's big game and why he really wanted Derik Queen​

The Maryland basketball coach had more interesting comments on Saturday.​

If Kevin Willard has any uncertainty about his future at Maryland, he didn't sound like it on Saturday. At his second-round NCA Tournament media session, the Maryland basketball coach spoke about extensive planning for next season. At a time when every hour preparing for the next opponent -- Colorado State in this instance (Maryland-Colorado preview here) -- is valuable, he's putting significant time into long-term planning, which could be telling.

"I'm already mapping out what I want to do next year with the guys on our roster," Willard said. "We had a two-hour meeting about it this morning. We spent last night on Colorado State, breaking them down. This morning, we spent an hour and a half on Colorado State, and then we spent two hours on the portal and the roster ... It's what you have to do. It's part of the job now. I'd much rather be playing [and planning] than be back in College Park doing it, to be honest.

"We've talked a lot, because right now it's the portal season. We sit down every day for two hours and just see who's going in, what we're doing."

Rumors of mutual interest with Villanova popped up early in the week. Then Willard announced AD Damon Evans was leaving for SMU and said he'd turned down a contract extension from Evans on Selection Sunday. Then he spent a few minutes expressing his dissatisfaction with the program's funding. Add it all up and the interest in Willard's situation has compounded, though no conclusion can be reached yet. Maryland doesn't even have a permanent AD in place after Evans' departure.

Willard wasn't asked about those topics. While answering a question about coaching in the NBA, though, he did sneak repeat a one-liner throwback to his comment the other day about Evans refusing to pay for his team to stay an extra night in New York City at Christmas time.

"You stay at Four Seasons. You travel great, eat great ... "

A reporter filled Willard's brief pause with the joke: "You get to stay an extra night in New York," she said.

"You get to stay an extra night in New York," Willard repeated. "You're going to get me in trouble."

He also talked about DeShawn Harris-Smith's big game against GCU, why Derik Queen was such an important recruit, the transfer portal and more:

On DeShawn Harris-Smith's 5-for-5 performance against GCU​

"Going from a guy that was starting and playing a lot of minutes, even as a freshman, to his role this year, sometimes kids need that a little bit. And I think he's really—he's continued to work hard, he's continued to have a great attitude in practice. But I actually think him sitting on the bench and seeing the game and seeing the guys has actually helped him dramatically. He's one of the smartest basketball players. I've always said he's probably, probably a little bit too smart, because he thinks a lot. But I think sitting on the bench and seeing what's going on has helped him kind of evolve as a player and a person."

On why getting Derik Queen was so important​

"I've talked about this a lot. He was so highly touted, and being on that [Montverde Academy] team with Cooper [Flagg] and Liam [McNeeley] and the young man at Georgia—I forget his name, I apologize—it was really important because he was from Baltimore. He was the next big thing from Baltimore. And we really wanted to keep him in state—not to make a recruiting splash—but just to make a statement about keeping kids home. I thought we had done a good job in the first class of doing that. People talked about having the pressure of having a McDonald's All-American and having a kid that was the MVP. We just looked at it as a great opportunity to have a great young man and a phenomenal player. To his credit, he has worked really hard. We had a recruit on a visit early on—in early November, maybe late October—and the kid was making fun of Derik about how he didn't play well in practice. Derek said, 'Wait till you try to do this. This isn't easy.' Derik struggled a little bit in practice early but stuck with it with a great attitude. He's got that infectious personality, was so positive. He's a top five draft pick. I think he's definitely exceeded my expectations."

On recruiting high school players​

"The freshman model is difficult because if you're going to bring a freshman in and pay a freshman—because you have to pay him—you better make sure what you're paying them is going to equal what they're giving you. No CEO in their right mind would pay someone out of college a million dollars and not have him have one sale, develop and work him, and then all of a sudden, he leaves and goes someplace else. The balance—the fact that we do have to—we have a budget. I know exactly how much money we have. I know how much money we can have. The portal is easier to work with because it's a proven asset. You're taking someone else's salesman that has a history of sales. It might not be in your company, may not be in your business, but you can see what he has. With freshmen, there's very few that can come in and affect this game at a really high level like Derek did. I think if you look at this year, there's maybe seven guys doing what Deiek's done."

On incoming recruit Chris Jeffrey​

"I love Chris. Chris is coming in as a freshman. He's going to play minutes next year. I love him. That's the reason we're bringing him in. But you really have to balance the fact that you just can't pay someone that you're not going to play. You don't have unlimited funds. You're a GM. GMs don't go out and pay someone a million dollars and not play them. It just doesn't work that way. The model is constantly evolving. When you get rid of the COVID year, the sixth-year kids, and add profit sharing, you're going to have so many more schools with money. It's gotten extremely complicated putting your roster together. That's a long answer. So tired."

On why he likes coaching in college​

"The appeal of college, for me at least, is that you still have a chance to really impact men's lives. You don't have that in the NBA. You're not impacting LeBron James. But I got to impact Derek Queen this year. I got to impact all these kids' lives—whether they like it or not—through our discipline, through our work ethic, through everything that we try to do as a program. We still impact young men's lives. That's still a huge part of what we do in college basketball. Yes, there's money. Yes, there's NIL. Yes, we have no rules. Yes, it's mayhem. But at the end of the day, when you run a really good program—I think we run a really, really good program—you have a chance to impact young men's lives."

On the bench​

"Those guys have been critical for us all year, if you think about just the energy they bring, the defense. Jordan with his defense, Tafara with his length, Jay—Jay has an unbelievable ability to get his hands on the ball. So just for them to continue to come in and change the game from a defensive standpoint, that's really been critical for us."

On whether a lot of college coaches will leave for the NBA because of all the new job duties​

"Could be the best question I've ever been asked. I think you will see a lot of college guys try to go to the NBA. I spent four years in the NBA, and those guys—you have to earn their respect as a coach. The NBA is the elite of the elite. If you look at the guys coaching there, they're usually guys that started as either former players who have done it and know the game inside and out and see the game on a chess level, or it's guys that started as a video guy, did advanced scouting, then was an assistant. And when you become a head coach, the players have such respect for your journey. I look at guys that have gone from college right to the NBA, and it's really hard to gain that respect on the NBA level. The great thing about the NBA is you have a GM, a salary cap, long-term contracts, summers off. You stay at Four Seasons. You travel great, eat great, get to stay an extra night in New York. You're going to get me in trouble. The NBA is the best of the best on everything. I lived there for four years. You land, and you don't worry about your bags—they just show up in your room. You're not on the tarmac putting them in the back of the bus with the managers.

On how much NIL has changed​

"When I first got this job at Maryland, we were selling hats. We were selling hats at tailgates and football games ... Year two, I was behind. The game just totally changed. It just went poof ... We lost Hakim Hart to Villanova ... I knew we had Derik and Ju, so I changed. I really did. I changed my mindset. We lost Hakim Hart last year. How I want to play and how I need to develop a roster is no longer developing four freshmen, letting them become sophomores, bringing in four more freshmen ... I had to adapt so quickly. I think we did a good job—my staff and I—of just saying, 'Okay, how do we want to play? Who's out there? What type of attitude?' There's so much that goes into it. You can still miss on the portal. I don't think we missed because we were really specific on what we wanted: unusual, great kids. That was the main thing—I wanted great kids. These guys are."

On whether coaches need to be the face of their programs because players move around so often​

" I hope not. I think this game is still all about the kids and their opportunity. I know it doesn't seem that way. I watched how excited Derik Queen was on Selection Sunday. I still think this sport will figure out a way to make sure that these kids—because this is their opportunity. I'm a head coach. This is their opportunity to make it. It shouldn't be about the coaches. It really shouldn't. It should be about developing these young men and giving them the best opportunity. They're 21 years old. I'm 49. My job is to make sure they can get to 49."
"Have I felt any obligation to be the face of the Maryland program? I don't think anybody wants this face anywhere. If you go to Xfinity Center, I'm not on one wall. And that is on purpose. I would much rather have Derek Queen smiling, Julian Reese smiling, everyone getting to know them, everyone remembering them. My job is—no, absolutely not."

On adapting to coaching in the Big Ten​

"When I started at Iona as a head coach, was there a defined style of play I wanted? Yeah. I had worked for Rick Pitino for 10 years, so I thought I was Rick Pitino. I ran the same practices, ran the same plays. When I got to Seton Hall, I still thought I was Rick Pitino—until I walked into the first meeting and saw Rick Pitino, Bob Huggins, and Jim Calhoun. Then I realized, unfortunately, I was Kevin Willard. But a good coach. The Big Ten has made me evolve as much as anything. I look at Matt Painter and what they've done, and the fact that the Big Ten is 9–0 in the NCAA Tournament now—the Big Ten has forced me to evolve. The different styles, the different coaches, the level of players. You look at the freshmen in this conference and how good they are, top to bottom. I've evolved as a coach dramatically in 19 years, but the last three years in this conference, I've had to change even more. To win 14 games in this league—we talked about it as a staff—that's crazy. And to do it in the venues we have to go on the road, with the players and coaches. I've evolved—as my hairline has evolved.
"That's a long time."

​

Maryland Basketball Scoop: Is Kevin Willard about to strike while his team is hot?​

Maryland basketball produced another loud day on and off the court Friday at the NCAA Tournament. Maryland turned up the volume on its contender buzz with a blowout win against Grand Canyon, followed by another explosive press conference from coach Kevin Willard. Could we soon know what the resolution will be?​

Maryland basketball produced another loud day on and off the court Friday at the NCAA Tournament. Maryland turned up the volume on its contender buzz with a blowout win against Grand Canyon, followed by another explosive press conference from coach Kevin Willard.

Willard has turned a squad the national media viewed as a bubble team preseason into one of the most dangerous teams in the tournament. If they continue to play like they did against Grand Canyon, it could be the happiest March for Maryland fans in a long time. Willard showed up in Seattle ready to talk his, um, stuff. He's put out fiery soundbites on back-to-back days have added a layer of intrigue and uncertainty to the situation. Other than Will Wade coaching McNeese State to an upset over Clemson after confirming he's leaving for N.C. State, no coach in the country might have attracted more attention so far.

What's the latest on the situation? Could an answer come sooner than expected? Here's the latest exclusive.

I'm told Willard and the administration are in talks today about new deal. A couple of well-connected sources have said that Damon Evans is running the point for Maryland in the talks, which sounds odd given all that's occurred and because he's on his way out after announcing his departure for SMU. But apparently school president Darryll Pines has declined to take over the negotiations. You can probably assume interim AD Collen Sorem won't be the one negotiating with Willard. It's been a while since I've had so many sources say the same thing in the span of a few days as they have this week: Willard and Sorem have a frosty relationship.

That's why I was surprised when I was told earlier this week, she was the likely interim choice. But Gary Williams and Debbie Yow (mostly Williams) showed you don't have to be best buddies to win big.

"[They're] trying to get a deal done today," a source with knowledge of the situation said.

Willard's current deal has four years remaining at about $4 million per year.

One of the biggest questions: Is he actually a top choice of Villanova and considering the job? I've gotten mixed answers on that. I've been skeptical. It's seemed like a leverage play for better terms at Maryland from the start, but that doesn't rule out Nova wanting him. Some national scoop guys and others in the Big East region continue to report Willard is their top choice. As a few people have pointed out, there's some reason Villanova hasn't hired anyone yet. They could be waiting on Willard, but there are lots of other coaches also still in the tourney.

The intel I've gotten all along has led me to believe this has all been about getting more resources, not the Villanova job, as Willard said in that first presser. He told his players in no uncertain terms that he'll be back. He still seems likely to return, with a new deal that guarantees more resources, primarily a revenue shares close to $5 million, more NIL fundraising and a basketball-specific GM. Sources have said Willard was unhappy about Evans' decision to hire one GM for the whole department, and a football guy at that, and no dedicated basketball GM. They also said the relationship took a hit when Evans indirectly criticized Willard for complaining about travel and scheduling during the team's 0-4 rod start.

It also sounds like Willard wasn't about Evans' attempt to quell the Villanova speculation by rushing out that report from Jon Rothstein about working on a deal to make him a top 10 paid coach, attempting to phrase a four-year-old practice facility project as a new enticement. When that report came out, they had yet to have conversations about a new deal. In retrospect, it looks like a desperate move by Evans and Willard surely knew it. He said on Wednesday he shot it down and told Evans to talk to his agent. You wonder if his decision to reveal Evans' departure for SMU was motivated at all by Evans misrepresenting how far along talks were about a new deal.

He also has a lot of leverage because of how well this season is going. Some have asked how AD candidates will view working with a coach who publicly scooped the AD that hired him three years earlier on his own career move. If he can keep putting together teams like this one, though, it shouldn't matter much. Everyone loves a winner.

Had Evans already accepted the SMU job before this all started, or did Willard win a power play to get him out? Different people are saying different things. Earlier, I should've been more measured in my conclusion that Willard orchestrated Evans' exit. Only Willard and Evans know all the precise details and the timeline.

I haven't completely ruled out the possibility that Villanova is in play for Willard. People up there certainly seem to think so. From what I've gathered, it seems more likely that Willard re-ups at Maryland. He's a family man who's settled into the area, with kids in school. And he's going to have a lot of security and fan support. But this is also a situation unlike many I can recall, Villanova has a lot of money and there's uncertainty about who will be in charge, so all bets are off.

I'll have more information before long.

​

Maryland 76
Colorado State 67

WE ARE GOING TO GET RID OF OUR DINOSAURS?


Add Meharg to the list of over-the-hill and let"s see how things go in CP on the women's side before considering it a triumvirate of calamity....

Are the refs from B1g,because, wow. Let the players play. 38 fouls so far in 34 min. Great players and fouls every minute. Ugh