Kevin Willard

{{Short description|American basketball coach (born 1975)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}

{{Infobox college coach

| name = Kevin Willard

| image = Kevin Willard in 2012.jpg

| caption = Willard in 2012.

| current_title = Head coach

| current_team = Villanova

| current_conference = Big East

| current_record = {{winpct|0|0|record=y}}

| contract = $4,000,000

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1975|4|6}}

| birth_place = Huntington, New York, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| alma_mater =

| player_years1 = 1993–1994

| player_team1 = Western Kentucky

| player_years2 = 1994–1997

| player_team2 = Pittsburgh

| player_positions = Point guard

| coach_years1 = 1997–2001

| coach_team1 = Boston Celtics (assistant)

| coach_years2 = 2001–2007

| coach_team2 = Louisville (assistant)

| coach_years3 = 2007–2010

| coach_team3 = Iona

| coach_years4 = 2010–2022

| coach_team4 = Seton Hall

| coach_years5 = 2022–2025

| coach_team5 = Maryland

| coach_years6 = 2025–present

| coach_team6 = Villanova

| overall_record = {{winpct|335|249|record=y}}

| bowl_record =

| tournament_record = 4–7 (NCAA Division I)
1–1 (NIT)

| 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)

| coaching_records =

}}

Kevin Schreiber Willard (born April 6, 1975) is an American college basketball coach and the incoming men's basketball head coach at Villanova University. Willard played basketball at Western Kentucky during the 1992–93 season before transferring to Pittsburgh to finish his playing career.

Willard's father, Ralph Willard, was the associate head coach at Louisville and a former head men's basketball coach at Western Kentucky, Pittsburgh, and

Holy Cross.

Kevin Willard started his coaching career in the NBA ranks, working on the bench with coach Rick Pitino of the Boston Celtics. After Pitino resigned from the Celtics in 2001, Willard followed him to Louisville, and spent the next six years there as his assistant.

He is the former head coach of Iona College, where he took over the reins after Jeff Ruland was fired after going 2–28 in 2007. Willard came to Iona after spending 10 years as an assistant under Rick Pitino.{{cite news| title = Willard takes over for Ruland at Iona | work = ESPN.com | date = April 10, 2007 | url = https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/news/story?id=2831901 | access-date = July 6, 2007}} 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 the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI),{{efn|The RPI was one of the primary metrics used in the NCAA basketball tournament selection process until being replaced by the NCAA Evaluation Tool in 2018.}} 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 at Seton Hall University, a school that competes in the Big East Conference.{{efn|At the time Willard took the Seton Hall position, the school was a member of the original Big East Conference. When the Big East split in 2013, three schools left to join the Atlantic Coast Conference; Seton Hall and six other schools left to form a new conference that purchased the "Big East" name; and the remaining schools continued in operation under the original Big East charter with the new name of American Athletic Conference. The current Big East recognizes the history of the pre-2013 Big East as its own.}} He led the Pirates to the 2016 Big East championship. On March 14, 2019, he became the first Pirates head coach to lead the team to four straight 20 win seasons.{{cite news| title = Reports: Seton Hall to hire Willard| work = ESPN.com | date = March 28, 2010 | url = https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/news/story?id=5035678 | access-date = March 28, 2010}} After Seton Hall beat Rutgers University on December 12, 2021, Willard passed P.J. Carlesimo for second place in program history with 213 wins. Only Honey Russell (295) has more wins than Willard.{{Cite web|title=Rutgers vs. Seton Hall - Game Recap - December 12, 2021 - ESPN|url=https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap/_/gameId/401372025|access-date=2021-12-20|website=ESPN.com|language=en}} On March 21, 2022, Willard accepted the job to be the next head basketball coach at the University of Maryland.{{Cite web|title=Maryland hires Kevin Willard: Seton Hall coach joins Terps after leading Pirates to five NCAA Tournaments|url=https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/maryland-hires-kevin-willard-seton-hall-coach-joins-terps-after-leading-pirates-to-five-ncaa-tournaments/}} Willard led the Terps to an NCAA Tournament bid in his first season as head coach. The team ended up beating West Virginia 67–65 in the Round of 64 before losing to Alabama 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/villanova-university-hires-kevin-willard-basketball-coach/|title=Villanova University hires Maryland's Kevin Willard as men's basketball coach|website=CBSSports.com|author=Raymond Strickland|access-date=2025-04-03}}