One of the deciders in the process was none other than Jay Wright, Willard’s former adversary over a decade coaching at Seton Hall. After formal conversations with university President Rev. Peter Donohue and athletic director Eric Roedl, Willard fired up the old Big East phone tree Saturday night.

Three days after officially becoming Villanova’s head coach, Kevin Willard spoke Wednesday with reporters on Zoom. Willard has had a busy few days. He traveled Monday to Indianapolis to watch the women’s team play in a WBIT semifinal,

PHILADELPHIA — Kevin Willard deadpanned that — no, he hadn't heard the laundry list of complaints lodged against him by Maryland fans and former players and, well, the list goes on — that he threw his program under the bus and then happily got behind the wheel to steamroll over their carcass all while the Terrapins made a run to the Sweet 16.

Willard left Maryland with a 65-39 record and two NCAA Tournament appearances. He is fresh off his best season with the program, in which he constructed a talented roster dubbed the "Crab Five" and earned a second-place finish in the Big Ten and a trip to the Sweet 16.

Maryland fans aren’t sorry to see Kevin Willard go to Villanova, but the the university shouldn’t ignore lessons from his abrupt departure.

Fool's Day was a little slow around the Big Ten Conference, but Maryland wasn't joking around when they decided to hire Buzz Williams as its new head bask

Now, Willard is officially the head coach at Villanova, and the school released a statement on Sunday morning. Shortly after, the Big East Conference had a message for Willard. "Welcome back to the BIG EAST @KevinWillard!" the Big East account wrote on X.