The recent national performance of UConn has been a big story but the Big East isn’t just the Huskies at the moment. St. John’s is coming off an incredible season, Creighton has been a power for nearly a decade, and there’s untapped potential at programs like Marquette that we’ve seen. It’s not a surprise that only two schools were changing head coaches this past offseason as there’s solid continuity in this league.
In fact, both incoming head coaches have experience working in the Big East, but there’s one who really floated to the top. Xavier could do great things in the coming years under Richard Pitino in his second stint at a power conference program, but many eyes are trained in on eastern Pennsylvania and the work that Kevin Willard has ahead of him.
The story in this league has been UConn these last few seasons, but it’s a league that belonged squarely in Villanova’s hands for nearly a decade. Under Jay Wright, the Wildcats won national championships in 2016 and 2018 while winning a boatload of games and league titles, including seven regular season crowns in nine years in this Big East.
However, Kyle Neptune stepped in when Wright retired in 2022 and the last three years were laughable in comparison. Villanova won just 54 games in Neptune’s tenure, with a trio of 6th place finishes and nothing close to even an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Willard steps up with big plans for a Villanova program that longs for that national relevance again. He possesses nearly two decades of Big East experience and is a fantastic coach as evident throughout his career. A former assistant to Rick Pitino with both Louisville and the Boston Celtics, Willard did great work as head coach at Iona before a prosperous decade-long run at Seton Hall. He led the Pirates to five NCAA Tournaments and showed he could build winning culture in the Big East.
He’s spent these last three years further evolving his legacy with great work in the Big Ten at Maryland. Willard took the Terrapins to the second round of the Big Dance in his first season and led the program back to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in nearly a decade just two months ago. His exit from Maryland wasn’t exactly ideal, but now his focus is squarely on Villanova.
Villanova made a major upgrade at the head coaching position, replacing an up and comer in Neptune who failed to live up to expectations with an experienced leader who’s built winning teams at multiple programs. The Wildcats have no guarantee that Willard will lead them to multiple Final Fours or another national title, but it’s a step in the right direction as evident by his early work this offseason. Will the Wildcats be relevant again as soon as this upcoming season?