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Big East Basketball: Ranking all 10 head coaches for 2019-20 season

By Joey Loose

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 23: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats shakes hands with head coach Ed Cooley of the Providence Friars after the game at the Wells Fargo Center on January 23, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 23: Head coach Jay Wright of the Villanova Wildcats shakes hands with head coach Ed Cooley of the Providence Friars after the game at the Wells Fargo Center on January 23, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA – MARCH 21: Head coach Kevin Willard of the Seton Hall Pirates calls out instructions in the first half against the Wofford Terriers during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena on March 21, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA – MARCH 21: Head coach Kevin Willard of the Seton Hall Pirates calls out instructions in the first half against the Wofford Terriers during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena on March 21, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /

5. Kevin Willard (Seton Hall)

This Pirates program was at their best in the 1990s under head coach P.J. Carlesimo, though Willard might be ushering in that second era of success. While he still has work to do to catch up to Carlesimo’s national title game appearance, Seton Hall is trending upwards and find themselves yearly in the conversation in the Big East.

After playing point guard for his father Ralph at Western Kentucky and Pittsburgh, Willard began his coaching career with Rick Pitino and the Boston Celtics. He followed Pitino back to the college game, taking a job on his first staff at Louisville in 2001. After six years, Willard took his first head coaching job at Iona. Inheriting a 2-win program, he led the Gaels to 21 wins by his third season. It was enough to catch the eye of the Pirates, who were searching for a new head coach in 2010.

Related Story. Seton Hall's rotation for 2019-20. light

Willard begins his tenth season with the Pirates and has done solid work building the Pirates into Big East contenders. In his first five years, he could fare no better than 21 wins and an NIT appearance, but things have gone much better lately. The last four years, Seton Hall has made the NCAA Tournament, with four straight 3rd place finishes in the Big East. The Pirates have won 20 games in each of those seasons and has made four straight Tourneys for just the second time in program history.

A fifth straight NCAA Tournament is well within the realm of possibility as Willard continues to assert himself in this league. Any team not named Villanova has struggled with consistency in the new Big East, though these Pirates are proving otherwise. Unfortunately, Willard has won just a single game in those four Tourney appearances and will need more postseason success to rise on this list.

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