Kevin Willard

Kevin Willard (born April 6, 1975) is an American college basketball coach and the current head men's basketball coach at Seton Hall University.

Kevin Willard
Willard (middle) as an assistant coach with the Louisville Cardinals under Pitino.
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamSeton Hall
ConferenceBig East
Record201–145 (.581)
Biographical details
Born (1975-04-06) April 6, 1975
Huntington, New York
Playing career
1992–1993Western Kentucky
1994–1997Pittsburgh
Position(s)Point guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1997–2001Boston Celtics (assistant)
2001–2007Louisville (assistant)
2007–2010Iona
2010–presentSeton Hall
Head coaching record
Overall245–194 (.112)
Tournaments1–4 (NCAA)
1–1 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Big East Tournament (2016)
Big East regular season (2020)
Awards
Big East co-Coach of the Year (2016)
MAAC Coach of the Year (2010)

Willard played basketball at Western Kentucky during the 1992–93 season (his freshman year) before transferring to Pittsburgh to finish his playing career.

Willard started his coaching career in the NBA ranks, working on the bench with coach Rick Pitino of the Boston Celtics. After Pitino resigned from the Celtics in 2001, Willard followed him to Louisville, and spent the next six years there as his assistant.

He is the former coach of Iona College, where he took over the reins after Jeff Ruland was fired after going 2–28 in 2007. Willard came to Iona after spending ten years as an assistant under Rick Pitino.[1] In his third season with Iona, Willard led the Gaels to the 14th 20-win season in program history. It was a nine-win improvement from his first two seasons in New Rochelle. After inheriting a program that was 10th to last in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), the Gaels improved to a Top 80 RPI in 2009–10, the highest turnaround over the time span in NCAA Division I. After completing the turnaround, on March 28, 2010 Willard accepted the head coaching position at Seton Hall University, a school that competes in the Big East Conference. He led the Pirates to the 2016 Big East Championship. On March 14, 2019, he became the first Pirates head coach to lead the team to four straight 20 win seasons.[2] He has already ascended to third on Seton Hall's all-time wins list, behind Honey Russell and P. J. Carlesimo.

Willard's father, Ralph Willard, was the associate head coach at Louisville and a former head men's basketball coach at Holy Cross, Pittsburgh and Western Kentucky.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Iona Gaels (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) (2007–2010)
2007–08 Iona 12–208–107th
2008–09 Iona 12–197–117th
2009–10 Iona 21–1012–63rd
Iona: 45–49 (.479)27–27 (.500)
Seton Hall Pirates (Big East Conference) (2010–present)
2010–11 Seton Hall 13–177–1112th
2011–12 Seton Hall 21–138–1010thNIT Second Round
2012–13 Seton Hall 15–183–1513th
2013–14 Seton Hall 17–176–128th
2014–15 Seton Hall 16–156–12T–7th
2015–16 Seton Hall 25–912–63rdNCAA Round of 64
2016–17 Seton Hall 21–1210–8T–3rdNCAA Round of 64
2017–18 Seton Hall 22–1210–8T–3rdNCAA Round of 32
2018–19 Seton Hall 20–149–9T–3rdNCAA Round of 64
2019–20 Seton Hall 21–913–5T-1stNCAA Canceled
2020–21 Seton Hall 11–88–5
Seton Hall: 201–145 (.581)92-99 (.482)
Total:245-194 (.558)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. "Willard takes over for Ruland at Iona". ESPN.com. April 10, 2007. Retrieved July 6, 2007.
  2. "Reports: Seton Hall to hire Willard". ESPN.com. March 28, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
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