BALTIMORE — Maryland men’s basketball coach Kevin Willard has left the program to become the next coach at Villanova, which announced the hire Sunday morning.

In a statement published a few hours after Villanova’s announcement, University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines credited Willard and the players for a thrilling march to the Sweet 16 and said officials did what they could to keep Willard in the fold.

“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,” he wrote. “We had long and thoughtful conversations about the program and shared the same vision for Maryland Basketball. In the end, he made the choice that he felt was best for him and his family. On behalf of all of Terrapin Nation, we thank Coach Willard and his family for their service and wish them well.”

Pines said a national search for a new coach has already begun.

“My family and I would like to thank the Villanova Board of Trustees, President Father Peter Donohue and Eric Roedl for this incredible opportunity,” Willard said in a news release. “Villanova Basketball has a deep tradition of excellence and a culture that is second to none in college basketball. We are thrilled to be a part of it and join the Villanova community.”

It’s a return to the Big East Conference for Willard, who Maryland hired from Seton Hall in 2022. In three seasons with the Terps, Willard made two trips to the NCAA Tournament, including the program’s first appearance in the Sweet 16 since 2016 before a loss to No. 1 seed Florida on Thursday night in San Francisco.

The speculation surrounding Willard’s future in College Park reached new heights last week when the coach said that then-athletic director Damon Evans is “probably going to SMU” at a news conference one day before the Terps’ first-round NCAA Tournament game, an 81-49 win over No. 13 seed Grand Canyon on March 21. A day later, Evans officially accepted the position at SMU, and Colleen Sorem was named Maryland’s interim AD.

Willard said that Evans provided a term sheet for a new contract on March 16, but that the uncertainty surrounding Evans’ future complicated further talks. Willard decided not to sign a new contract that would have given the coach a raise and promised increased financial commitments to the men’s basketball program.

“It’s kind of tough to negotiate with somebody that’s maybe not here,” Willard said March 20. “I’m confident that we’ll get it done.”

With the Villanova job remaining open since the end of the regular season, Willard’s future loomed over the Terps’ most exciting NCAA Tournament run, which included a buzzer-beating victory over Colorado State in the second round. After Maryland’s loss to Florida, Willard said that he still didn’t know what he would do when asked about his future with the program.

“I haven’t talked to anybody,” Willard said Thursday night. “I have an agent, I’m sure he’s talking to people — that’s what agents like to do. But, you know, I don’t know.”

University of Maryland administrators told at least one prominent booster for the program that Willard planned to leave for Villanova, but that Maryland was making a “last-ditch effort” to retain the coach, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told The Baltimore Sun. He met with Villanova officials on Saturday, the same source said.

“Coach Willard quickly stood out among an impressive pool of candidates during a comprehensive national search,” Donohue said in the release.

Willard’s departure leaves the program needing to make a new hire quickly to rebuild the roster. Five-star freshman Derik Queen is expected to declare for the NBA draft, Julian Reese and Selton Miguel have exhausted their eligibility, and guards Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Rodney Rice could enter the transfer portal, potentially leaving Maryland without a proven player for next season.

Last year, Willard was the state’s second-highest-paid employee, trailing only Maryland football coach Mike Locksley’s total earnings of $6 million. Willard was paid $4.08 million, which included $498,000 in regular earnings and $3.58 million in other compensation, in 2024. It marked a slight increase from the $4.04 million he made in 2023.

Willard went 65-39 in his three seasons in College Park, stabilizing a program that was left in flux by the abrupt midseason departure of Mark Turgeon nine games into the 2021 season. Willard reached the NCAA Tournament in his first season as a No. 8 seed and won a first-round matchup over West Virginia with a team led by Charlotte transfer Jahmir Young and then-sophomore Reese, who stayed through Turgeon’s departure.

But Willard’s Terps floundered in his second season, failing to reach the postseason and finishing the year with a losing record. He reloaded entering 2024 and formed a squad headlined by Queen, three transfers who slid seamlessly into the starting lineup and Reese as the lone holdover.

Maryland reached No. 11 in the Associated Press poll earlier this month, its highest spot under Willard. The Terps’ No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament was their highest since 2015.

Despite that success, Willard was unhappy with the program’s financial commitments. He pinpointed one source of frustration in his March 20 news conference: Maryland was unable to stay an extra night in New York in December because it was too expensive, the coach was told.

More spending had increased in other areas, however. Maryland is expected to open a new $52 million basketball practice facility before next season. Still, Willard wanted more.

“I need to see fundamental changes done,” the coach said. “I want this program to be great. I want it to be the best in the country. I want to win a national championship, but there’s things that need to change.”

Villanova parted ways with its coach Kyle Neptune after the season ended, his third with the program following two-time national championship winner Jay Wright. SMU, which transitioned to the Atlantic Coast Conference and made the College Football Playoff last year, was in need of an athletic director after its current one announced that he’d be retiring at the end of this year.

“He’s right in what he said in the press conference, which is that there has to be changes made for Maryland basketball to win championships,” said Rick Jaklitsch, a Maryland booster and former president of the Terrapin Club. “Fans are going to have to write checks. It’s a new world with the name, image and likeness. Last year, Connecticut outspends Maryland by $5 million in basketball NIL. That can’t happen. We have to be able to compete.”

____

©2025 Baltimore Sun. Visit baltimoresun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.