CBS analyst: 'Volatile' situation unfolding with Kevin Willard and Maryland Basketball
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Will he stay or will he go? That appears to be the $5 million question when it comes to Kevin Willard and the Maryland Terrapins.
Over the last two weeks, Willard has taken his opportunities with the media to call for fundamental change with the basketball program at Maryland. From NIL to revenue sharing, Willard has made it clear that he needed certain things from the folks in College Park in order for him to sign a new deal and remain with the Terps. But that process has become increasingly complicated with the recent departure of former AD Damon Evans to SMU.
With no AD in place and the Villanova head coaching vacancy still hanging out there, there's growing belief that Willard could be coaching his final games with Maryland.
On Wednesday, CBS college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein highlighted just how unusual the current situation with Maryland is.
"All eyes are on Villanova," Rothstein said. "As of right now at 5:00 eastern on Wednesday before the start of the Sweet Sixteen, there is now one power conference job that's open... and that's Villanova. Now, Villanova is waiting on Maryland's Kevin Willard."
Rothstein went on to describe an earlier report that Maryland was working on a contract extension that would make Willard one of the top 10 highest paid coaches in college basketball.
"Now I reported on Selection Sunday that Maryland was working on a contract extension that would make Kevin Willard one of the top 10 highest paid coaches in all of college basketball. That deal that Kevin Willard has on the table now from Maryland, that's over $5 million a year. And there's other incentives that Maryland has put in the fine print in an effort to keep Kevin Willard at Maryland."
But given Willard's recent press conference statements and the recent departure of the AD, Rothstein explains that the current situation in College Park is volatile.
"As we have seen from Kevin Willard's reaction in press conferences throughout the NCAA tournament, things at Maryland are extremely, extremely volatile right now. The AD Damon Evans, who presented Kevin Willard with a term sheet, is now set to become the next athletic director at SMU. And Kevin Willard has aired a lot of these frustrations publicly throughout the NCAA tournament. But I have never seen a program go to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament and have all this uncertainty surrounding what's going on with their head coach moving forward."
You can watch his entire segment on Willard and the Terps below:
"Kevin Willard is going to weigh the offer to stay at Maryland... or he's going to go be the next head coach at Villanova."@JonRothstein says all eyes are on Villanova, the last power conference head coaching job that's open. pic.twitter.com/kAourNCUDM
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 26, 2025
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Christopher Breiler launched Winged Helmet Media and began covering the Michigan Football program in an unofficial capacity in 2017. He then joined Wolverine Digest as part of the FanNation network in 2021 as a contributing writer, where he served as both a writer and a photographer on game days. In 2024, he took over as the Managing Editor for Michigan Wolverines On SI. In January of 2025, he took over as Publisher for Maryland On SI. His love for Michigan Football brought him into the industry, and his passion for being a content creator has led to some amazing experiences along the way.
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