After women's head coach Brenda Frese took the podium at Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday, men's head coach Kevin Willard was up next Thursday as he talks about his revamped roster, frontcourt tandem and new-look Big Ten.
On what Willard likes about the 2024-25 team
“I really like the additions we added. Obviously Derik Queen is a talented freshman. I think the biggest thing that we addressed in the portal was obviously we struggled to shoot the basketball last year. Everyone that came in through the portal and transfers were guys that could make shots. Excited about this team. They're a great group. It's still trying to get to know them, trying to figure out first names every once in a while, but for the most part we brought guys in that could shoot, that could help complement Julian Reese and Derik Queen.”
On spending time on Rick Pitino’s staff at Louisville
“You know, I came from the Boston Celtics. I spent four years in the NBA and jumped over to college. I was very lucky to have Mick. Mick really took me under his wing about the recruiting aspect, what to do. He actually gave me -- he gave me a number one day on one of my first days on the job. He said, hey, I need you to call this kid. I think we have a real good shot at him. I had no idea, so I called the high school coach and talked to the high school coach. The high school coach is, like, yeah, hey, Kev, I really appreciate you calling, but you know this kid is probably going to be the first pick in the draft. I had no idea. The guy goes, yeah, it's LeBron James. He is sitting over there laughing his you know what off, and he is just egging me on. He is, like, keep asking questions, keep asking him questions. I always say I recruited LeBron James really hard.”
On how Julian Reese & Derik Queen play together
“I think Derik comes from a great family too. He's got a great group of people around him. He's wise beyond his years, and I think one of the biggest things was Derik was really excited to play with Julian because Julian is in my opinion one of the best centers in college basketball. So he was excited now. He can play with him, but to learn from him. So far had some practice Derik is like a sponge. He asks Julian questions. What do I do here? What's my counter move? What do I do here? They really work well together. We have really high expectations for Derik, and I think Derik has really high expectations for himself. So embracing those expectations and saying, hey, this is who he is, this is what we're trying to do, but he has been great. Julian has been a phenomenal leader. They're both from Baltimore. They both played a little bit together in AAU in high school. Julian has been great in taking him under his wing and saying, hey, this is how you do it, this is how you act. Derik has been great with it.”
On improving team shooting compared to 2023-24
“We got older too. I think we had five freshmen on the roster last year. We played three freshmen over 25 minutes, which in this league I learned very quickly is a good way to lose a lot have close games. I think the biggest thing for us was I looked at I have a great center. We have an incoming big guy coming in. We just have to put guys around him that are a little bit older, are going to throw throwing the ball in the post because they're going to get it back out. Ja'Kobi Gillespie from Belmont was one of the guys early on that we saw in the portal that was -- we lost Jahmir Young. We lost someone that scored 1,200 points in two years for us. I needed a guy that wanted to come in and take over that leadership role, take over the minutes role. Ja'Kobi is there. Then I wanted someone -- we needed another guard. Last year we were just one guard short. We lost seven games by three points or less, and everything was on Jahmir. So Selton Miguel for us was a guy from South Florida that is a guy that can just go get a bucket. You don't have to run a play. Last year everything was manufactured. When you have freshmen, as Steve is going to find out, sometimes you have to manufacture everything. A guy like Selton, Ja'Kobi, just give him the ball and get out of the way, and that's sometimes as a coach -- that's the best feeling you can have.”
On what excites Willard the most
“Kind of what Steve said. I think this conference. I think a lot of people have talked about you have to go out west, they have to come out east. I think we're very lucky of the fact that we can play basketball from coast-to-coast. We hit Chicago in between. Our players are really excited to go coast-to-coast. I think it's something that is really unique, and I think it's something that I think the presidents and everyone that did this and got everyone involved in these new teams out west. I think it's really exciting for everybody, and I think we're going to prove that we're the best -- by far the best college basketball conference in the country.”
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