 Willard in 2012. | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Villanova |
| Conference | Big East |
| Record | 4–1 (.800) |
| Annual salary | $4,000,000 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1975-04-06)April 6, 1975 (age 50) Huntington, New York, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1993–1994 | Western Kentucky |
| 1994–1997 | Pittsburgh |
| Position | Point guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1997–2001 | Boston Celtics (assistant) |
| 2001–2007 | Louisville (assistant) |
| 2007–2010 | Iona |
| 2010–2022 | Seton Hall |
| 2022–2025 | Maryland |
| 2025–present | Villanova |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 339–250 (.576) |
| Tournaments | 4–7 (NCAA Division I) 1–1 (NIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| Big East tournament (2016) Big East regular season (2020) | |
| Awards | |
| Big East Co-Coach of the Year (2016) MAAC Coach of the Year (2010) | |
Kevin Schreiber Willard (born April 6, 1975) is an Americancollege basketball coach who is currently the head men's basketball coach atVillanova University. He played basketball atWestern Kentucky during the 1992–93 season before transferring toPittsburgh to finish his playing career.
Willard's father,Ralph Willard, was the associate head coach atLouisville and a former head men's basketball coach atWestern Kentucky,Pittsburgh, andHoly Cross.
Kevin Willard started his coaching career in theNBA ranks, working on the bench with coachRick Pitino of theBoston Celtics. After Pitino resigned from the Celtics in 2001, Willard followed him toLouisville, and spent the next six years there as his assistant.
He is the former head coach ofIona College, where he took over the reins afterJeff Ruland was fired after going 2–28 in 2007. Willard came to Iona after spending 10 years as an assistant under Rick Pitino.[1] In his third season with Iona, Willard led the Gaels to the 14th 20-win season in program history. It was a nine-win improvement from his first two seasons in New Rochelle. After inheriting a program that was 10th to last in theRatings Percentage Index (RPI),[a] the Gaels improved to a Top 80 RPI in 2009–10, the highest turnaround over that time span in NCAA Division I. After completing the turnaround, on March 28, 2010, Willard accepted the head coaching position atSeton Hall University, a school thatcompetes in theBig East Conference.[b] He led the Pirates to the2016 Big East championship. On March 14, 2019, he became the first Pirates head coach to lead the team to four straight 20 win seasons.[2] After Seton Hall beat Rutgers University on December 12, 2021, Willard passedP.J. Carlesimo for second place in program history with 213 wins. Only Honey Russell (295) has more wins than Willard.[3] On March 21, 2022, Willard accepted the job to be the next head basketball coach at theUniversity of Maryland.[4] Willard led the Terps to anNCAA Tournament bid in his first season as head coach. The team ended up beatingWest Virginia 67–65 in the Round of 64 before losing toAlabama 73–51 in the Round of 32.
In the 2024–2025 season, Willard led Maryland to a 27–9 record with a 14–6 conference record. Maryland earned the 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and defeated Illinois in the quarterfinals before losing to Michigan 81–80. Maryland earned a 4-seed in the NCAA Tournament, where Willard led the Terps to their first Sweet Sixteen since 2016. At the conclusion of the season, Willard was announced as the new head coach at Villanova,[5] a move that Willard himself received backlash for and that he described as ugly.[6] Willard's Villanova tenure would begin with a 66–71 loss to BYU.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iona Gaels(Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)(2007–2010) | |||||||||
| 2007–08 | Iona | 12–20 | 8–10 | 7th | |||||
| 2008–09 | Iona | 12–19 | 7–11 | 7th | |||||
| 2009–10 | Iona | 21–10 | 12–6 | 3rd | |||||
| Iona: | 45–49 (.479) | 27–27 (.500) | |||||||
| Seton Hall Pirates(Big East Conference)(2010–2022) | |||||||||
| 2010–11 | Seton Hall | 13–17 | 7–11 | 12th | |||||
| 2011–12 | Seton Hall | 21–13 | 8–10 | 10th | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2012–13 | Seton Hall | 15–18 | 3–15 | 13th | |||||
| 2013–14 | Seton Hall | 17–17 | 6–12 | 8th | |||||
| 2014–15 | Seton Hall | 16–15 | 6–12 | T–7th | |||||
| 2015–16 | Seton Hall | 25–9 | 12–6 | 3rd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2016–17 | Seton Hall | 21–12 | 10–8 | T–3rd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2017–18 | Seton Hall | 22–12 | 10–8 | T–3rd | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2018–19 | Seton Hall | 20–14 | 9–9 | T–3rd | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2019–20 | Seton Hall | 21–9 | 13–5 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Canceled | ||||
| 2020–21 | Seton Hall | 14–13 | 10–9 | 5th | |||||
| 2021–22 | Seton Hall | 21–11 | 11–8 | T–5th | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| Seton Hall: | 225–161 (.583) | 105–113 (.482) | |||||||
| Maryland Terrapins(Big Ten Conference)(2022–2025) | |||||||||
| 2022–23 | Maryland | 22–13 | 11–9 | T–5th | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
| 2023–24 | Maryland | 16–17 | 7–13 | T–12th | |||||
| 2024–25 | Maryland | 27–9 | 14–6 | T–2nd | NCAA Division I Sweet 16 | ||||
| Maryland: | 65–39 (.625) | 32–28 (.533) | |||||||
| Villanova Wildcats(Big East Conference)(2025–present) | |||||||||
| 2025–26 | Villanova | 2–1 | – | ||||||
| Villanova: | 4–1 (.800) | 0–0 (–) | |||||||
| Total: | 339–250 (.576) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||