This could be Kevin Willard’s final game as Maryland’s coach.
The questions about Willard’s future has hijacked the leadup to the Terrapins’ Sweet 16 matchup with Florida on Thursday night.
Willard has publicly griped about Maryland’s lack of NIL spending and prematurely revealed the news that Maryland’s AD, Damon Evans, was leaving the university for the same job at SMU.
This all comes as Villanova’s head coaching post ominously remains open after the firing of Kyle Neptune and Willard reportedly being their top choice.
Willard was offered a term sheet for a new contract before Selection Sunday.
“As of right now, I’m staying. Everything that my concerns have been about the job — and that was my whole point of the press conference — was that I want to make this program the best,” Willard said on “The Kevin Sheehan Show,” according to 247Sports. “When you have an opportunity to do it, you have to take advantage of it.”
The “as of right now” portion of that response certainly did not help ease any minds in College Park, and it has invited further questioning from the press.
At his availability on Wednesday, Willard deflected questions about his future and instead broke down the team’s challenge of going up against Florida star guard Walter Clayton Jr.
Still, speculation is running rampant.
“As we have seen from Kevin Willard’s reaction in press conferences throughout the NCAA tournament, things at Maryland are extremely, extremely volatile right now…,” CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein said on Wednesday.
“Kevin Willard has aired a lot of these frustrations publicly throughout the NCAA tournament. But I have never seen a program go to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament and have all this uncertainty surrounding what’s going on with their head coach moving forward.”
Maryland has persevered through the drama, blowing out Grand Canyon and surviving Colorado State thanks to a Derik Queen buzzer-beater.
Willard, who previously coached at Iona and Seton Hall, is in his third season with Maryland.
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Though Willard led Seton Hall to the NCAA Tournament five times, this is the 49-year-old’s first trip to the Sweet 16.
And it could be his last game before a return to the Big East.
