Maryland men’s basketball is officially in the NCAA Tournament with a second West Coast trip planned, this time to face 13th-seed Grand Canyon in the first round of the postseason. But in between Maryland shifting their attention from the conference tournament loss vs. Michigan and Sunday’s selection show, head coach Kevin Willard drew headlines after ESPN’s Pete Thamel reiterated Willard’s candidacy for the now vacant head coaching job at Villanova. Hours later, a resolution became clear with the two sides working toward a revamped contract with additional NIL resources ahead of the offseason.
“What I can tell you is Damon Evans and I, he hired me, we're on the same page of what we want to do for this program, what we want to do for this university, his focus and my focus are exactly the same,” Willard said on Sunday when asked about talks of a revamped contract. “So our focus right now is strictly the NCAA Tournament and this team. But all I can say to that is that me and Damon are on the same page and we always have been.”
More from Willard on Maryland’s postseason draw, the message to his team, what Maryland can learn from its last West Coast trip and plenty more:
Willard on the NCAA Tournament draw
Excited. Obviously disappointed with how we ended the game and really how we played. We didn't play overly well yesterday, but I thought, and again, I thought Michigan played really well. But for this group to sacrifice, a lot of guys had to sacrifice roles to come together, to put this team together in two weeks, and for them to kind of come together and get back into the big dance, it's exciting.”
On Reese getting back to the NCAA Tournament a second time to end his career
“I mean – it's what we talked about. It's what we talked about at the beginning of this year. It was that was his goal. He wanted to graduate from Maryland and he wanted to help us get back to the big dance. And obviously anybody that's watched us all year realizes that he's as big a reason for that as anything.”
On how hard it is to flush the Michigan loss
“It got flushed at five o'clock. I haven't slept yet and it was hard because just because it was fourth one in a row, the way we've lost. I'd almost rather get blown out, to be honest with you. To fight back from being down 15, to take the lead, and then obviously have some defensive breakdowns at the end. But as my wife said, she goes once five o'clock, you got to recognize and you got to be ready to be excited about the second season. And five o'clock hit. I let it go. I'm super excited now and I'm excited about this team. I'm excited about going out west. I think it's, we've done it once before, so I'm excited to get back out there again.”
On what Willard can take from Maryland’s last West Coast road trip
“I think the only thing we're going to change a little bit is our travel time. We got out there really late last time and I thought the next day kind of affected us a little bit. But as far as going out there, I think it's what's great about the Big Ten conference, is we've been out west. We've traveled out there. So this is not new. This is nothing that we have to adjust to. The guys are excited about it. Seattle is a great talent. So to get this opportunity to go back out there again, I think it's a great opportunity for us.”
On a four-seed, whether a three-seed was within reach
“No, I think the Michigan game kind of knocked us off the three line. I think if we had gotten to the finals against Wisconsin, I think we would have had a good shot for a three. But again, I'm not complaining about four. I think it's a great opportunity for us.”
On eight Big Ten teams making the NCAA Tournament
“I haven't dove into it yet, but Indiana definitely deserved to be into the tournament. I think the job Mike [Woodson] did, rallying his team, the way they played at the end of the year, winning at Michigan State, home versus Purdue. I think it's tough. I think Indiana deserve to be in.”
On Grand Canyon
“Bryce [Drew] is a heck of a coach…it’s his third straight into the tournament. They play fast. They've been there before. The best thing I know about is I have tremendous respect for how good of a coach Bryce is.”
On whether this NCAA Tournament can reset the foundation for the program
“No, I think the way this team played this year has kind of set the standard. And even I would say my first year team was – the way Jahmir played, Donta [Scott]. I mean, Dante Scott just FaceTimed me. He was in tears about how happy he was. I think I've set the culture here. I love our culture. I love our work ethic. I love that there's so many kids that want to come play for us that we're turning kids down. So I like where this program is. I love where the program is going. I love the kids we have in it. March doesn't necessarily define that but we definitely want to take on March.”
On what works well prepping his teams in the NCAA Tournament
“Well if you ask everybody, nothing. I've learned a lot. This conference has made me a much better coach. It's interesting. You know, as you get older, even though I'm 49, I was still the third-youngest coach in this league. To go through this league three times now, especially with the new, the other four teams we added. Like Dana plays a very fast look, plays zone. Mick, is you're going to grind it out. USC, you're going to see five, six, seven guys on there. To win at Indiana, beat Wisconsin. The amount of styles that you play against in the Big Ten is really what makes this conference so unique. You're going to see Chris Collins, you're going to go home and have to take an ice bath. Same thing with Rutgers. And then we have teams that play really fast. This conference has forced me – not that I've never tried not to, I always try to get better every year - but this conference forces you to become a better coach. If not, you will get leveled. There's just no if, ands or buts about it. There's so many good teams, there's so many good players, and there's so many good coaches. So I think the biggest thing for me is, as I've gotten older, is understanding how to attack the NCAA Tournament a little bit better, trying to build your roster. I think the Big Ten forces you to build your roster in a much different way than maybe I would have in the past just because of the physicality, the size, the speed, the depth. So I think you're better prepared just by being in this conference.”
On what becomes more important for Maryland this week
“I think the biggest thing is I do have a lot of guys that’ve never been in the NCAA Tournament, like, that's why I love the NCAA Tournament today. We're sitting over at the hall, and you have, I'm looking at all these guys. And, I mean, Derik Queen was like a fat kid in the Chocolate Factory. I mean, he was so giddy and so excited. And Ja’Kobi, Selton has been in college, Jay spent in college - never been there. I mean, to see their excitement, I think, you know, I'm going to really bottle that up and let them understand. But we're also still a little pissed off at how we played against Michigan…we’ve got a little bit of an edge to us too. We got something to prove because we just didn't - we're really a bad taste in how we just ended up and played the other day.”
On whether Willard got a sense early in the season the team could be this good
“This team, they're extremely confident in their individual skills. But I think we've talked a lot about as a staff and as a team together about the importance of having a team attitude. And I think these guys have built a very strong team attitude where they believe in each other and they're going to work for each other. And I started seeing it - the biggest change I saw on this team was after the Ohio State loss. It's a second buzzer beater. We just [came] off Northwestern and they bounced back and we got on a roll. And then Michigan State happens and then these guys could have folded up after Michigan State. And you go at Penn State and get a win that we had to get. And then we wentMichigan and win at Michigan. So I think this team has developed, you know, some of the setbacks that we've had – the four buzzer beaters, a tough loss at Purdue – I think has helped kind of sharpen their attitude more than anything.”
On the immediate message to the team after the bracket reveal
“I told him two things. I said that I was extremely proud of them to again, to come together in this era, with the portal having only technically one starter back, adding a freshman, Rodney [Rice], who hadn't played in a year, Ja’Kobi coming up big, Selton. I told him I was extremely proud of the way they came and I told them to enjoy it. When you're an at-large team, I say this every year, when you're an at large team, you're pretty much saying that you've had one of the 30 best seasons in college basketball and that you're a really good basketball team. And to understand how it's not easy to become an at-large team and to be ranked 11th in the country for the last two or three weeks, to get that four-seed, I told them to enjoy and get ready to get to work tomorrow.”
On how the depth can help Maryland in the postseason
“I could talk about it ‘till I’m blue in the face. We're unique in that I have five guys that need to get the basketball, which is a really good thing because any night someone can get you. But our bench has given us great energy. I mean, you look at what Jordan Geronimo did against Illinois, him coming in just changing the whole complexion the game. Jay gave us great minutes. I think the continuity of the starting five is really good. I don't have to worry about what I'm going to get from that starting five. And you really do tighten your rotation this time of year just because the TV timeouts become almost four minutes. I mean, it's amazing how long the TV timeouts are. So I do think that with this rotation, what we have and the way the bench is that we're in pretty good position.”
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