Maryland Terrapins head coach Kevin Willard hasn’t exactly played nice with the media during this year’s NCAA Tournament.
The third-year Terps coach has had to endure a media circus since the beginning of the tournament last week; first as a result of his public comments announcing Maryland athletic director Damon Evans’ departure to SMU before it was made official, and subsequently because of his links to Villanova’s head coaching vacancy.
In between, Willard has made comments regarding the school’s lack of NIL commitment to its basketball program. Some see it as a leverage play to gain more resources from the administration and allow him a say in the next AD hire. Others simply believe it’s sour grapes, and Willard is on his way out after his Terps bow out of the tournament.
Either way, it seems like the coach is fed up with being asked about it.
At his press conference prior to the Terps’ Sweet 16 matchup against the Florida Gators, Willard put on a clinic in deflection.
Kevin Willard with a masterclass in deflection 🤣 pic.twitter.com/oE8vz9sOTK
— Tommy Godin (@tommygodinjr) March 26, 2025
“You’ve been very open the last week about trying to get greater NIL share, revenue share,” a reporter began. “I’m sure you saw [Maryland football coach] Mike Locksley yesterday said he would prefer to keep some of these issues in-house. Why have you felt like, kind of, bringing this discussion in the open has been the best way to advocate for your program?”
“Well I mean, I’ll be honest with you,” Willard began, “I think our biggest thing is we gotta stop [Florida guard Walter] Clayton. He’s really good. He shoots the basketball going left 48%. He shoots it right going at, like, 38%. So really, the last couple days, trying to come up with a game plan to stop Clayton because I just think he’s one of the best guards in the country that we’ve seen. And then really, obviously, trying to fix our rebounding woes have been at the top of my mind too. So, yeah, it’s a big problem.”
Stone faced. No hesitation. Just straight ball knowledge from Willard.
You got to give him credit, he committed to the bit and never broke character. He’s clearly peeved that he’s had to field these off-the-court questions as he prepares for his first career Sweet 16 game.
But, just like many college coaches before him, when it’s clear that there’s a strong possibility you’re headed to a different program once the season ends, reporters have to do their jobs. And when you’ve handled the situation as publicly as Willard has — discussing the departure of Maryland’s AD before it happened, complaining about NIL resources — it’s only fair that you’re going to be faced with questions related to those topics.
And if you don’t want to give an answer, well, this is one way to avoid doing so.
