Kevin Willard Has Maryland Basketball Way Ahead of Schedule
Maryland Basketball wasn’t supposed to be very remarkable in Kevin Willard’s first season as head coach. Following the rocky end of the Mark Turgeon era, it was clear that UMD needed some time to rebuild. Almost every analyst considered them a team destined for the bottom third of the Big Ten standings. I was definitely higher on Maryland than consensus, yet still predicted they would finish 9th in my 2022-23 season preview.
The Terrapins went on to drastically outperform expectations in Willard’s first season. They finished 22-13 and tied for fifth in the Big Ten with an 11-9 conference record. UMD went on to defeat West Virginia in the Round of 64 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. A tournament win was certainly not what anyone predicted for Maryland in a bridge year.
Willard has already proven to be a fantastic hire for Maryland’s culture. It’s pretty evident he understood what type of coach the school was looking for.
He’s been aggressive in recruiting out of the DMV area, something Turgeon always struggled to do. Charlotte transfer Jahmir Young was the first DeMatha Catholic player to commit to UMD in two decades despite the prominent high school program sitting just a few miles down the road from the University of Maryland.
2023-24’s Positive Outlook
Entering the 2023-24 season, Maryland Basketball returns three starters in Young, Donta Scott, and Julian Reese. They add the No. 18 recruiting class in the country per 247Sports. What’s even better is that DeShawn Harris-Smith, Jamie Kaiser, and Jahnathan Lamothe are all local recruits. Willard is building a strong program and using Maryland’s backyard to do it. Coming off a 2023 NCAA Tournament berth, the Terrapins are primed to reach that stage again. They certainly have the talent to win more than one game in March Madness.
Maryland Basketball fans have high expectations, which isn’t unjustified. The job Kevin Willard has done thus far is extremely encouraging regarding his ability to lead the program back to prominence.
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