Kevin Willard faces the daunting task of reviving Villanova basketball after 3 straight NCAA misses

“He walked out the door and went right into the staff room,” Willard said with a laugh. “At the time, we were watching the press conference and (assistant) Jim O’Brien was like, ‘uh oh.’ I was like, how can I escape the room? But there was no escaping.”

There is no way for any name-brand sports team with a championship pedigree to ever truly escape the past. Willard was a 25-year-old NBA assistant coach in 2000 when he got a stark reminder under Pitino in Boston that patience can come with a price from fans and management that can often expect instant results, even if winning like the good ol' days often takes time.

Willard can’t shy away from the loaded national championship expectations that still linger at Villanova almost four years after Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright stunned the sport and retired weeks after he led the program to his fourth Final Four appearance.

To paraphrase Pitino, Jalen Brunson is not walking through that door, fans. Josh Hart is not walking through that door, and Mikal Bridges is not walking through that door.

The Wildcats hit the skids in the wake of Wright’s decision to walk away for a short-lived career in broadcasting. Kyle Neptune learned at the feet of Wright’s designer shoes yet failed to match his predecessor in wins, championships, fundraising and how to play the game in terms of placating everyone from donors to the media to university employees.

“It’s a monster job replacing Jay Wright,” Willard said.

It shouldn’t be so hard to replace Kyle Neptune.

Willard decided to leave Maryland — amid a cacophony of complaints about the state of the program — for the Wildcats once Neptune was fired after three seasons without a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

His debut on the bench Monday against No. 8 BYU comes with heightened hopes that Willard can turn the Wildcats into perennial Big East contenders — much as they were before UConn ascended to the top spot — that always should be playing deep into March. Willard may need a grace period — even if the Main Line fans won't grant one — as he takes over a team that returns all of one player that scored a point last season. Willard said he hasn't watched any game film from last season because, why bother?

Everything from name, image and likeness payments to the transfer portal to big-booster payments have changed the game, and Villanova isn't immune from the fallout of changes that have socked college sports over the last few years. Yet, there are few legitimate reasons why the Wildcats have been toppled from their perch as the class of the Big East and turned into a team that couldn't even field an NIT bid.

So Villanova — picked to finish seventh in the Big East for the second straight season — turned to the 50-year-old Willard, fresh off both a Sweet 16 and a messy breakup with Maryland, to steady the program.

“No pressure,” Villanova president the Rev. Peter Donohue said when Willard was hired, “but we expect great things in the season to come.”

Willard’s parting with the Terrapins wasn’t clean. In media appearances during the NCAA Tournament, he publicly campaigned for more resources and said Maryland’s funding for NIL pay was woefully inadequate. Maryland forged ahead by plucking Buzz Williams away from Texas A&M.

“Everyone looks at those last two press conferences, but I was just making sure that if I was staying, I was going to make sure I had a budget that I wanted to make sure I had,” Willard said. “Everyone overblows those. But I was just protecting the program. I wasn't killing the program.”

A former New York Knicks ball boy, Willard said the Terrapins are in better shape now than when he left “because they had a bald guy go crazy.”

Willard led Maryland to a 65-39 overall record in three seasons at the school, with two March Madness appearances. Last season was his seventh NCAA Tournament berth overall after getting there five times with Seton Hall, and his first time in the Sweet 16.

At Villanova, Willard says the Wildcats should be in the thick of the national title hunt every March. The Wildcats lost to teams such as Columbia and Saint Joseph’s last season as they slogged their way toward a 21-15 record in Neptune's final season.

“I think he tried to do everything he possibly could do to win," Willard said. "But that’s really hard for a second-year head coach. I think he tried to do everything basketball-wise that he could possibly do. There’s a lot more to this job now than there was probably 15 years ago. Fifteen years ago, you did a golf outing, shook some hands. That ain’t this job anymore.”

The program that once anchored its success on the Villanova Way — a mini-dynasty built on NBA-ready upperclassmen — has become discombobulated under the roster chaos born of a changing landscape. The yearly roster turnover has done little to build the culture — where senior stars once taught the new kids the concept of Villanova basketball — that was once a championship hallmark under Wright.

Wright went 520-197 in 21 seasons at Villanova with a pair of national championships before he retired.

“He built this thing. We’re not going to try and tear this down," Willard said. "That would be stupid. Do we need to kind of fix some things that went a little bit sideways? Yeah, that’s why I’m here. But I’m not going to tear down Jay Wright. No chance.”

Willard leans into his previous coaching lessons learned from everyone from his father, former Pitt coach Ralph Willard, Pitino and even former Celtics boss Red Auerbach. Willard sits at a conference table inside his office at Villanova's basketball facility — just off Wright Way — and points out how close he used to sit near Auerbach. Willard recalled he was the “coffee guy, take-notes guy and go-run-errands guy.”

He's now the save-Villanova guy.

The most NBA-ready prospect in Willard's rookie Villanova season is point guard Acaden Lewis. He originally committed to Kentucky before he reopened his recruitment in April and switched to Villanova. The Wildcats have eight transfers and three freshmen; Grand Canyon transfer Duke Brennan and James Madison transfer Bryce Lindsay are also expected to make an impact.

Lewis and most of the rest of the Wildcats aren't expected to stick around past this season. Willard is at Villanova for the long haul — he wants to coach at least 10 more years and called it his last coaching stop. He is ready to evolve as needed as college basketball turns more into a professional feeder system.

The old ways still have value.

Willard says he runs practices the same way as Pitino — now at St. John's — and there's a bit of his father's coaching demeanor in there with the fairness in how he treats his players. Willard has been on the sideline long enough — from stops with Pitino in Boston and Louisville, to calling the shots at Iona, Seton Hall and Maryland — to forge an identity as a winner he's confident will continue at Villanova.

“I've kind of evolved into my own schtick,” Willard said. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.”

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