Sources: Maryland's Willard takes Villanova job

Maryland's Kevin Willard has accepted Villanova's offer to become the program's next head coach, sources confirmed to ESPN, bringing an end to more than a week of speculation.

An official announcement could come as early as Sunday.

Maryland just completed one of its best seasons in the past 20 years, earning a 4-seed in the NCAA tournament and making a run to the Sweet 16 before falling to top-seeded Florida. The Terrapins finished 27-9 overall and 14-6 in the Big Ten and were ranked in the top 10 in most predictive metrics. After a 1-3 start to Big Ten play, Maryland lost just four games to Big Ten opponents the rest of the season, by a combined nine points.

Willard spent three seasons in College Park, going 65-39 overall with two NCAA tournament appearances.

He made headlines before Maryland's first-round NCAA tournament game against Grand Canyon, when he essentially broke the news of Maryland athletic director Damon Evans leaving for SMU and explained why he hasn't signed a new contract in College Park.

"I need to make fundamental changes to the program," Willard said. "That's what I'm focused on right now. That's why probably a deal hasn't got done because I want to see - I need to see fundamental changes done. I want this program to be great. I want it to be the best in the country, I want to win a national championship, but there's things that need to change.

"I need to make sure that we are where we are with NIL and rev share is not where we've been with NIL over the past two years. We've been one of the worst, if not lowest, in the NIL in the last two years. So that's first and foremost. I also have to make a fundamental change where I can do the things that I want to do with my program. I wanted to spend an extra night in New York this year to celebrate Christmas with my team and I was told that we can't do that because it's too expensive. So I don't know how we can be a top-tier program and I can't spend one extra night in New York because it's too expensive."

As Maryland knocked off Grand Canyon and Colorado State to advance to Willard's first Sweet 16 and the first for the Terps since 2016, the head coach's message didn't change. He acknowledged after Maryland's Sweet 16 loss to Florida on Thursday that he didn't know his next step.

"I don't know what I'm doing," Willard said. "I'll be honest with you. I haven't talked to my agent. I haven't talked to my wife."

At Villanova, Willard will replace Kyle Neptune, who failed to reach the NCAA tournament in any of his three seasons in charge of the Wildcats. Neptune took over in 2022 following the sudden retirement of Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright, who led Villanova to two national championships and four Final Four appearances.

It marks a return to the Big East for Willard, a Long Island native who spent 12 seasons as the head coach at Seton Hall. He led the Pirates to five NCAA tournament appearances and a share of the Big East regular-season title in 2020 -- when the program was on track for its highest NCAA tournament seed in nearly 30 years before the tournament was canceled due to the pandemic.

Before taking over at Seton Hall, Willard was the head coach at Iona for three seasons and an assistant coach under Rick Pitino at Louisville and with the Boston Celtics. Willard's father, Ralph, had previously spent time on Pitino's staff at multiple stops.

News of Willard accepting Villanova's offer was first reported by Inside Maryland Sports.