Villanova Coaching Search: Maryland Moves On, Pitino Open

One head coach reportedly in the Villanova Wildcats’ national search remains active in the NCAA Tournament, Maryland’s Kevin Willard.

The Terrapins advanced into the Sweet Sixteen on Sunday, March 23 thanks to a controversial buzzer beating fadeaway shot from Derik Queen, setting them up for a date with No. 1 seed Florida on March 27. As Willard will want to focus on pursuing a championship with his players rather than figuring out where he’ll coach next year — he’s still under contract with Maryland for four more seasons — that inhibits Villanova from hashing out any contract details with him for the moment.

Willard’s buyout will drop by $2 million if officially hired on or after April 1, but that doesn’t preclude the Wildcats from figuring out some sort of handshake deal with him in the interim.

New Mexico, on the other hand, lost a heartbreaker to No. 2 Michigan State after hanging tight with the Spartans for much of the game, potentially clearing the path for their head coach, Richard Pitino, to open up negotiations with the Wildcats. The buyout for Pitino, currently making between $1.2 million and $1.4 million for each year of his contract between now and the 2028-29 season, won’t cost anywhere near as much as Willard’s thanks to the departure of former Lobos athletic director Eddie Nuñez.

Working Against the Clock

To add a further layer of complexity to the situation, the transfer portal officially opened at midnight on March 24. It will remain open for at least 30 days, so Villanova doesn’t have a ton of time to find their next head coach and flesh out their roster for the 2025-26 season. All five of their starters this year will depart due to graduation, so the Wildcats have plenty of gaps to fill.

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