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Maryland fans boo Kevin Willard at Sweet 16 sendoff as rumors swirl on Villanova job

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax•03/27/25•

BarkleyTruax

Maryland Terrapins head coach Kevin Willard looks on during the second half against the USC Trojans at Xfinity Center. - Reggie Hildred, USA TODAY Sports
Maryland Terrapins head coach Kevin Willard looks on during the second half against the USC Trojans at Xfinity Center. - Reggie Hildred, USA TODAY Sports

Maryland‘s sendoff to the Sweet 16 quickly turned bitter when Terrapins fans decided to boo head coach Kevin Willard as he made his way past the crowd and onto the team bus. Willard, who has been rumored to be connected to the vacant Villanova job, was given a less-than warm reception on his way out.

Willard currently has his program in a position to make its first Elite Eight since 2002 with a victory on Thursday night over Florida. Before that game, however, his fanbase gave them a piece of their mind.

Willard has deflected all questions regarding the connection to him and Villanova, as well as the team’s NIL budget and more. Instead, choosing to focus on the task ahead of his squad. He further deflected it on Wednesday ahead of the matchup vs. Florida.

“This is all about the Sweet 16 and these guys enjoying it as much as possible,” the Maryland coach said. “I’ve enjoyed it tremendously. I do love this town. It’s a great town. Great food. Got to have dinner with P.J. Carlesimo last night, which is always a lot of fun, the stories we get to tell about Seton Hall. And Chris Mullin and coach Van Gundy joined us. We had a great time last night.”

It’s safe to say that Willard isn’t willing to talk about it just yet. For now, Willard appears to be focused the task ahead of him — the Florida Gators.

Villanova went forward with firing head men’s basketball coach Kyle Neptune after spending the past three seasons as the Wildcats coach. He took over when Jay Wright retired at the end of the 2021-22 season. Neptune had a winning record overall during his tenure, finshing 53-46. However, he failed to lead Villanova to an NCAA Tournament in that span.

This past season, the Wildcats finished 18-13 (11-9 Big East) during the regular season to earn the No. 6 seed in the Big East Tournament. Unfortunately, though that tied Neptune’s win total from a season ago, he still fell just shy of receiving an NCAA Tournament bid.

Prior to Neptune taking over, Villanova had made nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances under Wright. That included national titles in 2016 and 2018 as well as a Final Four finish in 2022. A higher standard is expected inside the Wildcats program, and it remains to be seen if Willard is ultimately the man for the job.