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.
