Villanova Coaching Search: Early Names To Watch

With Villanova Men’s Basketball head coach Kyle Neptune receiving his dismissal from the program on Saturday, March 15 — and the Wildcats’ leadership beginning a national coaching search — a handful of names have already cropped up for the position.

One of the first names on the list is VCU’s Ryan Odom, who brought UMBC, Utah State and now the Rams to the NCAA Tournament, compiling a 1-2 record that included a notorious Round of 64 upset of the Virginia Cavaliers as the No. 16 seed in 2018. It’ll end up a busy hiring cycle for the 50-year-old, who job hopped up the ladder in recent years but could well find a place to settle at a program like Villanova.

The Cavaliers, ironically, are also strongly expected to throw their hat in the ring for Odom: while his tournament record isn’t the most inspiring part of his résumé, his ability to mix things up at the lower tiers of the sport could bode well at a program with deeper pockets.

Big East Roots?

Another name that’ll start cropping up is Maryland’s Kevin Willard, who won a Big East Championship with Seton Hall in 2016, surviving a massive Villanova comeback attempt in the second half and closing the Wildcats (who went on to win a national championship) out on a late 5-0 run. The Terrapins rank as one of the Top 25 teams in the country this season under Willard’s guidance and, while he could want to return to the conference where he spent more than a decade, Maryland doesn’t want to let him go.

Per a report from Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, the Terrapins are working on a new deal that would make him one of the top ten highest paid coaches in the country. TV money from the expanded Big Ten would be difficult for the Wildcats to beat.

Sources: Maryland is working on a new contract for Kevin Willard that will make him one of the Top 10 highest paid coaches in college basketball.

The deal will include one of the highest revenue share budgets in the country along with a new $50 million dollar practice facility.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 16, 2025

The third and final name cropping up repeatedly right now is Northwestern’s Chris Collins. His 194-189 record in 12 seasons in Chicago isn’t the most inspiring, but he has advanced into the Round of 32 in each of those Wildcats’ NCAA Tournament appearances… and brought Northwestern to relevance after decades in the wilderness. Their only tournament appearances in program history came under his guidance.