Maryland Basketball: 7 candidates to replace Mark Turgeon as head coach

Kevin Willard

While we’re not purposefully saving the best for last (this list is alphabetical), the final coach on the list crosses a lot of the boxes for Maryland. If they’re looking for someone familiar with the area and familiar coaching in a major conference, then he’s a perfect fit. He doesn’t have a personal connection to Maryland or the Big Ten, but Kevin Willard would fit well with the Terrapins.

Willard played at Western Kentucky and Pittsburgh before spending the first decade of his coaching career as an assistant under Rick Pitino, with both the Boston Celtics and at Louisville. His head coaching career began with three good years at Iona before he took the Seton Hall job in 2010. Willard has led a revival for the Pirates, making them one of the better programs in the Big East, including a recent run of four straight NCAA Tournaments.

Many things make sense for Willard, but there’s one thing that stands out that could be a red flag. In these first eleven years with the Pirates, Willard hasn’t advanced Seton Hall past the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. A lack of postseason runs did Turgeon in, but that’s no reason for despair. This very thing was an issue for Mick Cronin at Cincinnati but things have been going much better at UCLA.

We’ve taken a closer look at seven potential candidates to succeed Mark Turgeon at Maryland; who do you think will be the next coach of the Terrapins?