The drama surrounding Maryland has been intense over the past couple of weeks. Despite the Terrapins making it to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in years, head coach Kevin Willard took matters into his own hands, generating headlines and leaving his immediate future in College Park uncertain.
Willard has served as the coach at Maryland for the last three seasons, accumulating 65 wins. Yet, for some unknown reason, the head coaching vacancy at Villanova seemed to have a strong appeal during the most successful stretch of his coaching career. After the loss to Florida, Willard was asked about his future and gave a puzzling answer.
“I don't know what I'm doing," Willard said. "I haven't talked to my agent, my wife. I made a promise to this team. Just focus on this team, and that's what I've done. I haven't talked to anyone. I have an agent; I'm sure he's talking to people. That’s what agents like to do.”
However, it quickly became clear that Willard had already made up his mind, accepting the Villanova job early on Sunday morning. The main factor behind his departure was reportedly funding, though Maryland made a strong attempt to keep him.
“We took a very proactive and aggressive approach to retain Coach Willard, offering a significant contract extension and salary increase, a new staff, and one of the highest revenue-share budgets in the B1G Conference,” Trent Knoop wrote.
The coaching carousel is in full swing again, and already, a candidate is emerging for the Maryland job: UConn assistant Luke Murray.
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“Murray is one of the masterminds behind the UConn dynasty. He's highly respected for helping Dan Hurley’s offensive playbook turn into one of the hardest to defend in college basketball,” Isaac Trotter wrote.
Murray has been Hurley’s assistant for nine seasons, winning two national championships. If Murray is indeed the architect behind one of the most complex offenses in college basketball, the Terrapins could be a formidable force next season, should he be hired.