Maryland Men’s Basketball

Willard said that if they don’t rebound, they’ve got no chance. Getting killed on the boards, and Florida shooting well. Oh well, had a very good year, regardless.
 
Florida is really good. I don’t think MD is playing well, but Florida just keeps coming and coming and coming. Just a much better team.
 
Yeah, clearly got beat by a superior team. Not mad. Good season.

Whoever is the next coach, need to recruit some big gnarly guys who can bang in the paint and some athletic guards.
 
I can’t really sum things up better than this guy. I don’t live in the area, so I don’t know his work. But he sums up my feelings on things.

 
The vitriol directed at Kevin Willard has exceeded that thrown at Turge. And what exactly was his crime? To vent that his program is getting screwed in the NIL money distribution. Lox came out and said in a recent article he "gets everything he wants" and has produced lpw-level bowls. So Willard is looking for a better opportunity, who exactly can blame him?

As for the game they were overmatched as we all knew. You can't get out rebounded by 42-20 and have a chance against a superior team. I totally saw this happening and unlike the other early game at least the Terps made it a game for a half.

Very good and unexpected season. Thanks to the players who gave great effort, well until March Madness anyway. :).
 
I don’t have vitriol towards him, but I won’t be sad to see him leave. I haven’t been that impressed with him as a coach, but at the same time, if you had told me before the B1G tournament Willard might not be the coach next year, I would have been shocked. This seems like it came up very quickly. But the way he had handled things the last couple of weeks has been frustrating. Why bring up something that happened over Christmas 3 months later and right before you start the NCAA tournament? It seems like he’s finding excuses so he can say he’s leaving for something other than career advancement.

And on that front, I see why Willard is leaving. He is going to have to rebuild at MD. He will have to rebuild at Villanova too. Almost every school is a rebuild these days, but his leash is much smaller at MD. He can go to Villanova and get a reset on the clock and get 3-4 more years. But if he stays ant MD and they are bad like they were last year, he probably gets fired and has to head back to the mid major coaching ranks.

At this point, does he have any other choice but to leave? I heard he was booed at the team send off, so the fans have clearly turned on him. Some of the other rumors, like him skipping a team dinner, I don’t know if they are true, but it’s just adding more gas to the fire. The talk all week was about the coach and not about the players. Can he really come back now? I don’t think he can.
 
Kel Varnsen said:
I don’t have vitriol towards him, but I won’t be sad to see him leave. I haven’t been that impressed with him as a coach, but at the same time, if you had told me before the B1G tournament Willard might not be the coach next year, I would have been shocked. This seems like it came up very quickly. But the way he had handled things the last couple of weeks has been frustrating. Why bring up something that happened over Christmas 3 months later and right before you start the NCAA tournament? It seems like he’s finding excuses so he can say he’s leaving for something other than career advancement.

And on that front, I see why Willard is leaving. He is going to have to rebuild at MD. He will have to rebuild at Villanova too. Almost every school is a rebuild these days, but his leash is much smaller at MD. He can go to Villanova and get a reset on the clock and get 3-4 more years. But if he stays ant MD and they are bad like they were last year, he probably gets fired and has to head back to the mid major coaching ranks.

At this point, does he have any other choice but to leave? I heard he was booed at the team send off, so the fans have clearly turned on him. Some of the other rumors, like him skipping a team dinner, I don’t know if they are true, but it’s just adding more gas to the fire. The talk all week was about the coach and not about the players. Can he really come back now? I don’t think he can.
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Until a week and half ago he had one NCAA tournament win and hasn't done damned thing in the BIG tourney. I'm trying to figure out how Kevin Willard was in such demand before March Madness, going into this season I certainly had concerns. There was talk of giving him top 10 money and I didn't understand this.

But the hate, not necessarily here but everywhere else, has reached a level I never expected. And for what? He is simply tired of most of the NIL money going to a football program who still has not done a damned thing with all of those rescources. I don't blame him for moving to Villinova, a program with much better status and apparently a larger committment to their basketball program.
 
Kel Varnsen said:
I don’t have vitriol towards him, but I won’t be sad to see him leave. I haven’t been that impressed with him as a coach, but at the same time, if you had told me before the B1G tournament Willard might not be the coach next year, I would have been shocked. This seems like it came up very quickly. But the way he had handled things the last couple of weeks has been frustrating. Why bring up something that happened over Christmas 3 months later and right before you start the NCAA tournament? It seems like he’s finding excuses so he can say he’s leaving for something other than career advancement.

And on that front, I see why Willard is leaving. He is going to have to rebuild at MD. He will have to rebuild at Villanova too. Almost every school is a rebuild these days, but his leash is much smaller at MD. He can go to Villanova and get a reset on the clock and get 3-4 more years. But if he stays ant MD and they are bad like they were last year, he probably gets fired and has to head back to the mid major coaching ranks.

At this point, does he have any other choice but to leave? I heard he was booed at the team send off, so the fans have clearly turned on him. Some of the other rumors, like him skipping a team dinner, I don’t know if they are true, but it’s just adding more gas to the fire. The talk all week was about the coach and not about the players. Can he really come back now? I don’t think he can.
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This has been going on for some time now, and the relationship between Willard and Evans has been contentious, at best. Football program was getting 5 times the amount that the basketball program was. Someone mention elsewhere that yeah, but there’s way more players in football. Well, not everyone gets money, and if you break it down, football has 22 starters, so you’re probably paying no more than 25-30 players. Basketball has 5 starters, but you need at least 8 to have viable subs that can play at the appropriate level. So you’re paying about one-third less basketball players, but the program receives 5 times less.

Willard is a very good coach. Son of a coach, and took two lower level programs at Iona and Seton Hall, and brought them back to prominence, including multiple 20 win seasons. I was thrilled when Maryland signed him. Curious to see who the next coach is, and if Evans will be involved, or if he is Dallas bound. Sucks that a number of the good young coaches have already gotten snapped up. Maryland is definitely playing from behind, and will have a major rebuild this offseason. Hoping they can get Gillespie, Rice, Gapare, Pierce, DHS, and Palmer to stay, or it will be a complete rebuild.

Downer that this has all happened at the end of one of the best seasons Maryland has had since the Natty, but from what I’ve heard, Evans needs to shoulder a large part of the blame. Willard could have done a better job with it also, but I certainly can’t fault him for going to a celebrated program where he will be the BMOC. The vitriol he is receiving is misplaced in my opinion. If in your career, you were getting jerked around by your superiors, and another place offered you better money, and much more control, I dare say that most anyone would make that switch for their career.
 
Lady Terps with a two point lead over #1 seed, and defending national champions South Carolina, at half. Playing very good defense, and getting scoring from everyone. South Carolina playing a bit chippy and physical, but that’s not surprising from a Dawn Staley coached team.
 
Slotball said:
This has been going on for some time now, and the relationship between Willard and Evans has been contentious, at best. Football program was getting 5 times the amount that the basketball program was. Someone mention elsewhere that yeah, but there’s way more players in football. Well, not everyone gets money, and if you break it down, football has 22 starters, so you’re probably paying no more than 25-30 players. Basketball has 5 starters, but you need at least 8 to have viable subs that can play at the appropriate level. So you’re paying about one-third less basketball players, but the program receives 5 times less.

Willard is a very good coach. Son of a coach, and took two lower level programs at Iona and Seton Hall, and brought them back to prominence, including multiple 20 win seasons. I was thrilled when Maryland signed him. Curious to see who the next coach is, and if Evans will be involved, or if he is Dallas bound. Sucks that a number of the good young coaches have already gotten snapped up. Maryland is definitely playing from behind, and will have a major rebuild this offseason. Hoping they can get Gillespie, Rice, Gapare, Pierce, DHS, and Palmer to stay, or it will be a complete rebuild.

Downer that this has all happened at the end of one of the best seasons Maryland has had since the Natty, but from what I’ve heard, Evans needs to shoulder a large part of the blame. Willard could have done a better job with it also, but I certainly can’t fault him for going to a celebrated program where he will be the BMOC. The vitriol he is receiving is misplaced in my opinion. If in your career, you were getting jerked around by your superiors, and another place offered you better money, and much more control, I dare say that most anyone would make that switch for their career.
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Thanks for this, it was very informative. What is so frustrating to me is NIL and the payment of players is all that matters in college sports today. $ tops good facility, the relationship with the coach and everything else that used to matter in college recruting. And when the wife asks me about it I'm totally in the dark. I have no idea how much money these players get and who is actually getting paid. It's like the wild wild west out there with zero regulation.

Are you sure about only 25-30 players being paid in football? I seem to recall the Terps losing a young DL to Penn State who could afford to pay him, put a red shirt on him and in a few years he was a stud.
 
Darrell Green Fan said:
Thanks for this, it was very informative. What is so frustrating to me is NIL and the payment of players is all that matters in college sports today. $ tops good facility, the relationship with the coach and everything else that used to matter in college recruting. And when the wife asks me about it I'm totally in the dark. I have no idea how much money these players get and who is actually getting paid. It's like the wild wild west out there with zero regulation.

Are you sure about only 25-30 players being paid in football? I seem to recall the Terps losing a young DL to Penn State who could afford to pay him, put a red shirt on him and in a few years he was a stud.
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I don’t know exactly how many football players get paid, I’m not that plugged in. I hear from people back home who have some knowledge about what’s going on, but it’s all hearsay. Big time recruits are getting the bulk, some 7 figures, so I’m just trying to extrapolate. It could be more, but I would guess anyone past the top 25-30 would be getting low 5 figures, at best. Probably why Willard was perturbed. My understanding is that the football program got $14M this past season, while the basketball program got less than $3M. Quite the disparity.

I’m sure the Penn St, Ohio St, Michigan big boys devote far more money to their athletic programs, hence are able to pay recruits that may need development. It’s why I advocate for the NCAA to step in now, and cap NIL money across the board. Of course, some schools (I’m looking at you SEC) will break the rules, like having alumni drop little brown envelopes on stud recruits, but at least there would be the threat of penalties, if caught.

Bringing big time money into college athletics has opened a Pandora’s box, and I’m not sure there will be an easy solution.
 
Slotball said:
I don’t know exactly how many football players get paid, I’m not that plugged in. I hear from people back home who have some knowledge about what’s going on, but it’s all hearsay. Big time recruits are getting the bulk, some 7 figures, so I’m just trying to extrapolate. It could be more, but I would guess anyone past the top 25-30 would be getting low 5 figures, at best. Probably why Willard was perturbed. My understanding is that the football program got $14M this past season, while the basketball program got less than $3M. Quite the disparity.

I’m sure the Penn St, Ohio St, Michigan big boys devote far more money to their athletic programs, hence are able to pay recruits that may need development. It’s why I advocate for the NCAA to step in now, and cap NIL money across the board. Of course, some schools (I’m looking at you SEC) will break the rules, like having alumni drop little brown envelopes on stud recruits, but at least there would be the threat of penalties, if caught.

Bringing big time money into college athletics has opened a Pandora’s box, and I’m not sure there will be an easy solution.
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The more I think about this the more I think MD Basketball is screwed. I saw a link, not sure if I posted it here, that read Maryland had the 3rd or 4th lowest income in the BIG. It;s less than half of the top schools and much closer to the bottom than the middle. I listened to Kevin Willard and he said it's all about money now, he said some agents for the top players are demanding $2-$3 Million. IMO Traditional recruiting methods are out the window. They are mostly going to the highest offer and things that mattered in the past no longer matter.

So if their revenue stream is so low even with a bigger cut of the NIL pie the basketball program simply will not be able to compete with the schools with far more money. I can kind of see the reason for the split they had between football and basketball. The reason OSU has the most money is their football team sells out where ours has dead crowds and empty seats. There is far more financial growth potential in football than basketball, the best way to grow revenue is to improve the football program. So that's what the tried to do by giving football much more of the pie, how'd that work out? An empty stadium and a low level bowl.
 
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The NCAA opened up Pandora's box and I think it's going to have all kinds of negative effects. Tony Bennett walking away is just an embarrassment. I am pretty much done with college sports. As for the Maryland coaching situation, I think Maryland will have a lot of regrets they let this get to this point. I am pretty sure that Willard knew he wasn't going to be Maryland's Head Basketball Coach already when he made his public comments. And Kel, you said you won't miss him, but it may be decades before Maryland gets back to the sweet sixteen. You're in the same boat as I am, you may be wandering the basketball desert for a long while (although the fall for me was a lot bigger one, as I think Bennett was one of the 3 best college basketball coaches of the last several decades).
 
College basketball and college sports in general has fundamentally changed. It’s going to be all about the transfers and NIL. Long time coaches walking away is proof of how much it’s changed. MD may not be back to a sweet 16 in 20 years, but Willard has only been to 1 in 25 years. So that’s right on par even if he had stayed. I don’t know what went on behind the scenes or how it got to this point, but I heard a lot of national radio guys talking about how they believe he had already made up his mind and all these public comments are so he can justify leaving without saying he quit. I don’t remember the circumstances of how he left Seton Hall, but I heard two different national sports talk hosts say he’s following the same pattern. One even said he is saying the same things he said when he left Seton Hall. His reputation nationally took a hit because of this, but in the end it won’t matter for MD and will only matter for Villanova if he does the same to them.

I may start up the conversation on NIL and transfers in the NCAA thread. I have more thoughts on that topic that go beyond MD. But it’s going to be interesting to see where MD goes from here and if they fully embrace the new way of team building and college basketball.
 
I 100% defer to you on Willard. I am sure you have a better bead on it than I do.

Like I said… the NCAA has opened Pandora’s Box and college athletics may never be the same.
 
I do not blame a head coach for looking for a better opportunity. Maryland was a better opportunity for success than Seaton Hall and Nova is a recent National Champion and yet a higher profile program and a better opportunity than Maryland.

I am just so frustrated. It's always been a sport of the blue bloods and everyone else. But in the past due to the coach or facility or the area a Maryland coach could complete for the top players like Diamond Stone. Now with such a handicap with regard to revenue they will just not be competitive with their NIL offers to top recruits.
 
NIL money and successfully buying players is dependent on deep-pocketed program boosters and endorsement money from business interests. The schools themselves don’t fund NIL deals.
 
Chris said:
NIL money and successfully buying players is dependent on deep-pocketed program boosters and endorsement money from business interests. The schools themselves don’t fund NIL deals.
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Yes and it's my understanding that the $20 mil is now replacing NIL as a form of a salary cap. I'll just say I think it's a bit naive to believe that the power schools are all playing by the rules. College sports is dirty and always has been dirty, I will never be convinced that these power schools are not taking from their enormous coffers to help acquire players.
 
I agree that big time college football and basketball have been dirty for multiple decades. But those suitcases full of money for talented players have always come from boosters who hold an affinity for the school, have a desire to be close to the programs, and to satisfy their jock-sniffing inclinations. The only difference now is that it’s legal. Athletes no longer need to have a summer ‘job’ with a local car dealer. I would be hard pressed to believe that top schools/programs have any need to directly add to that money pile. They just lean on their ‘supporters’ to be more charitable when the need arises.
 
I don't know if it was his intent, but Willard effectively burned the bridge behind him. Coaches, high school students, and portal transfers are going to be eying Maryland differently because of all the badmouthing and insinuations that Maryland doesn't pay and can't compete. What he did was really slimy. If he had intended to stay and rebuild Maryland into a more modern way then his words could be read differently, but knowing he knew he was on the way out it was just a real crap move.

I wonder how long he lasts at Villanova? I mean they have a history of being good, but I never thought Willard was special as a coach or as a recruiter.
 
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