Maryland basketball head coach Kevin Willard addresses Villanova rumors, contract status - again

Ahmed Ghafir
Mar 20
3 min read

Maryland men’s basketball is set to prepare for the 2025 NCAA Tournament as they take on 13th-seed Grand Canyon on Friday, but the headlines in the days leading up to postseason play have been about everything other than basketball.

That began last weekend when head coach Kevin Willard was linked to the Villanova head coaching vacancy, first reported by ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Willard has since addressed the rumors twice, first saying that he and athletic director Damon Evans are “on the same page of what we want to do for this program.” Those rumors never died down, though, with online buzz picking back on Thursday evening. Adding fuel to the fire, buzz that athletic director Damon Evans is on the cusp of taking the same role at SMU picked up, further complicating the situation.

“He's probably going to SMU, so it's kind of tough to negotiate with somebody that's maybe not here,” Willard added.

Ahead of Friday’s shootaround, head coach Kevin Willard went in-depth on where he stands.

“I've addressed it with them directly. I'll say this: Damon and I talked on Sunday night right before Selection Sunday. He gave me a term sheet right before Selection Sunday. I really wasn't focused on it. Been focused on this team and this. Damon's talked to my agent. I talked to Damon this morning at length about where we are. Obviously it's difficult right now because I think we know his situation. He's probably going to SMU, so it's kind of tough to negotiate with somebody that's maybe not here. But I need to make fundamental changes to the program. That's what I'm focused on right now. That's why probably a deal hasn't got done because I want to see -- I need to see fundamental changes done. 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. When you're at a place for three years and you put your heart and soul into it, you kind of sit there and say okay, wait a second for us to be really successful X, Y and Z needs to change and first and foremost, I need to make sure that we are where we are with NIL and rev share is not where we've been with NIL over the past two he years. We've been one of the worse, if not lowest, in the NIL in the last two years. So that's first and foremost. I also have to make a fundamental change where I can do the things that I want to do with my program. I wanted to spend an extra night in New York this year to celebrate Christmas with my team and I was told that we can't do that because it's too expensive. So I don't know how we can be a top-tier program and I can't spend one extra night in New York because it's too expensive. So there's fundamental things I'm fighting for my team and my program. It's not so much about me. I want to make sure that whatever we do going forward we're successful and we're successful at the highest rate. So I am confident that we'll get things done. It's a little difficult right now, I'm not going to lie, but I'm confident that no matter who we're negotiating with at the end of the day, this program's going to be in a great spot and that's really my focus is this Tournament, this team, and this program.”

The timing of the news has derailed a lot of optimism and excitement around Maryland’s most successful season in five years, but Willard reiterated what’s needed to close the gap between the two sides.

“I mean, this is a phenomenal program with an unbelievable history. But like I said, it's simple, when you've been somewhere for three years and I love it here, you're going to find things that need to be changed, and right now I think I have to take the fact that I think I have an opportunity to make sure that I make fundamental changes to what I believe we need to do to be successful. Our fan base is unbelievable. Our donors are unbelievable. It's just sometimes when you get into the nuts and bolts of a program you sit there and say, okay, can we make these changes? Let's make these changes for the best.”

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