With Florida putting a bow on its NCAA Tournament win over Maryland men’s basketball on Thursday night, the TBS broadcast had time to weigh in on perhaps the biggest story in college basketball: Kevin Willard.
The Terps coach has been under intense scrutiny ever since announcing in his first tournament news conference that athletic director Damon Evans was about to leave for SMU and that he needed to see more investment in his program to sign the contract extension that Evans offered him entering March Madness.
“That’s why probably a deal hasn’t got done, ‘cause I need to see fundamental changes done,” Willard said on March 20, the day before Maryland opened the NCAA Tournament with an easy win over Grand Canyon. “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.”
His comments came as reports swirled that Villanova was attempting to woo him away to fill its coaching vacancy, which has only intensified as the Terps’ tournament run continued before ending in an 87-71 loss to the top-seeded Gators in San Francisco.
After the game, Willard said that he doesn’t know what his future plans are. Asked directly about whether he’s received an offer from Villanova, he said that he had “no idea,” deferring those conversations to his agent.
“I haven’t talked to my agent, I haven’t talked to my wife,” he said. “I made a promise to this team that I was going to just focus on this team, and that’s all I’ve done.”
School administrators have told at least one prominent booster for the program that Willard plans to leave for Villanova, but that Maryland is making a “last-ditch effort” to retain him, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told The Baltimore Sun.
With Florida closing in on the victory Thursday night, TBS play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan touched on the uncertainty surrounding the Terps coach: “There’s been a lot of talk about what his next step will be, if it is a step. Will he stay, or will he find the frustration and move on?”
Dan Bonner: “Is he just doing what college basketball coaches are going to have to do… Is he trying to make sure that [Maryland] gets the resources that it needs…”
SVG: “If I’m Maryland, I’m going to do what it takes to keep Kevin Willard… Step up & do what it takes…” pic.twitter.com/7iGZWCOOqI
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 28, 2025
“Or is he just doing what college basketball coaches are going to have to do? And that is, is he trying to make sure that his basketball team gets the resources that it needs,” responded analyst Dan Bonner, a former Virginia player and former coach of the Cavaliers women’s basketball team. “When you’re in a league like the Big Ten, it’s a football league, most of the resources go to football. But the basketball team needs some resources too.”
