Willard leaves as the second-winningest coach in program history, ahead of P.J. Carlesimo and behind only Naismith Hall of Famer Honey Russell.
South Orange, N.J. – Seton Hall men’s basketball head coach Kevin Willard, who led the Pirates to two BIG EAST Championships, five NCAA Tournament appearances and seven 20-win seasons in his 12-year tenure, has resigned to take the same position at the University of Maryland. Seton Hall will immediately begin a search for his successor and will have no comment on the process until a new head coach has been hired.
“On behalf of Seton Hall University, I’d like to thank Kevin for an incredible 12 years of servant leadership to our student-athletes and our University,” said Seton Hall University President Dr. Joseph E. Nyre. “Kevin did yeoman’s work in ensuring that our student athletes were ready not only to compete for success on the court, but also ready to compete for success in the classroom, in the community and in life moving forward. With his leadership, Seton Hall men’s basketball transformed into one of the best programs in the country. We wish Kevin and his family all the best as they start a new chapter.”
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Kevin for 10 of his 12 years here at Seton Hall, and I want to thank him for his phenomenal leadership of our men’s basketball program and for helping our student-athletes become the best possible versions of themselves,” said Seton Hall Director of Athletics Bryan Felt. “Kevin came in and immediately changed the culture of our program and built it into a perennial BIG EAST Championship and NCAA Tournament contender with student-athletes who succeed in the classroom and represent the University in a first-class manner. We’ve been able to win championships and be among the nation’s best because of Kevin’s tireless work in recruiting and developing young men and mentoring them into college graduates.
“The effort that Kevin made to make Seton Hall men’s basketball an attractive destination for student-athletes has positioned us well to now find the next great head coach who will keep our program among the nation’s elite.
Willard leaves Seton Hall as the program’s second all-time winningest men’s basketball coach with 225 victories, surpassing the great P.J. Carlesimo, who had 212 wins in 12 seasons, earlier this season and behind only Honey Russell, who accumulated 294 wins in 18 seasons. He also leaves with the 11th most BIG EAST wins (regular season + tournament) in conference history with 117.
“Kevin Willard is a winner in every sense of the word,” said Kevin H. Marino, Chair of Seton Hall University’s Board of Regents. “He has transformed our program and made a real difference in the lives of many, many deserving young men. We will miss him, and wish him great success at Maryland.”
“Seton Hall will always be a special place for my family and me,” Willard said. “For 12 years, this was home, and I’m proud of everything that we accomplished. We were able to build not only a great program, but we were also able to build a second family with my players, staff and the entire University community. Together, we made Seton Hall men’s basketball a program we can all be proud to support.”
Over 12 years, Willard amassed seven 20-win seasons, including five in a row from 2016-20, and his teams placed in the top-half of the ultra-competitive BIG EAST Conference in seven straight campaigns from 2016-22. In fact, since 2015-16, the Pirates have the second-most conference wins in the league with 83. Willard’s teams captured the 2016 BIG EAST Tournament championship and the 2020 BIG EAST regular season championship and reached the tournament semifinals five times in their last eight tries.
After the program garnered only three NCAA Tournament bids between 1995 and 2010, Willard’s teams advanced to March Madness five times, including four years in a row from 2016-19. A sixth bid in 2020, when the Pirates were a projected top-three seed, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For his efforts, Willard has earned numerous Coach of the Year honors. He is a three-time Peter A. Carlesimo Met Writers Coach of the Year (2016, 2017, 2019), the 2016 BIG EAST Co-Coach of the Year, the 2019 NABC District 5 Coach of the Year and the 2020 USBWA District II Coach of the Year.
Willard’s student-athletes combined for 16 All-BIG EAST selections and three BIG EAST All-Rookie selections, two BIG EAST Player of the Year selections, two BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year winners, the 2018 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award winner, the 2020 Jerry West Award winner, five Haggerty Award Metropolitan Player of the Year selections and 72 BIG EAST All-Academic team selections. Seton Hall had two NBA Draft picks during Willard’s tenure, and many of his former student-athletes are playing professionally in the NBA, the NBA G-League and overseas.
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