After another disappointing basketball season for Villanova, new head coach Kevin Willard has been brought in to lead the team. Despite the controversies surrounding him, Willard is a great addition to Villanova basketball.
Willard has had a lot of experience coaching basketball. In his 18-season career so far, he has had 335 victories as a head coach and led teams to seven NCAA Tournaments. He started his head coaching career at Seton Hall in 2010 and was there for 12 seasons. While there, he had 225 victories and even won the 2016 Big East Championship over the Wildcats.
He then moved on to Maryland where he coached for three seasons and had 65 victories. He also had two NCAA tournament appearances with the team. His most recent being the Sweet Sixteen this season. A lot of the gossip surrounding Willard involves his leave from Maryland. Many fans from both schools felt it was messy to leave a program after a large accomplishment, and believed Willard was just in it for the money. This comes after he openly complained about the underfunded Terrapins program.
Despite this public and messy leave, I can’t blame Willard for wanting to move on. After his successes, it doesn’t make sense to not give him the pay he deserves. It seems Villanova was willing to give him that extra cash, and so he made the switch. In this economy, I think we would all jump at the opportunity for more money.
I’m not the only student who feels this way. The Villanovan spoke to graduate student and Villanova basketball superfan Joe Coyne about the new hire.
“I’m excited by the hire,” Coyne said. “He comes with a lack of deep tournament success, but he’s a Big East coach at his core. Willard also has a little edge to him, which should make him feel more relatable to fans.”
This edge Coyne is referring to is just who Willard is. He’s a coach that is willing to be tough so his team can win. From his accolades we can clearly see he sets his teams up to win. And after not making the tournament for three years, I think the Wildcats could use a strong leader that won’t back down.
His abrasive personality still might rub people the wrong way. I think it is important to note that not every coach is going to act similarly in the media. Despite his seemingly rude attitude, Willard knows how to lead a team to the tournament, which is something Villanova desperately needs right now.
The Villanovan spoke to senior Owen Hewitt about Willard and his seemingly-rude personality.
“What people on campus are going to have to come to terms with is that Willard is not built in the Jay Wright archetype,” Hewitt said. “In the way that he carried himself around the program, Neptune was a perfect disciple of Wright. I think it’s more important right now to have a person in charge who can win basketball games rather than a person who’s going to be a campus role model.”
Willard is going to make smart decisions for the team despite his lack of stellar media presence. He knows how to recruit and help his team rise to the top. I am personally excited to see how he turns this program around.
I think we all need to give Willard a chance. Villanovans need to see his magic on the court and then decide whether he is the right fit for our school. My only hope is we can make the tournament next year. So sit back, relax and enjoy the new era.
