Villanova coach Kevin Willard was not happy with the Wildcats’ start to the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 20, telling the TNT broadcast that he’s going to fire his entire staff.
No. 9 seed Utah State had outscored Villanova 16-2 in the paint at the time of Willard’s interview with sideline reporter Lauren Shehadi, who asked Willard how he plans to stop the Aggies’ attack.
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“I’m gonna fire my staff,” Willard said.
“Not now,” Shehadi said.
Willard responded: “Yeah, I am. Because we’ve given up eight points on underneath out-of-bounds defense. The only thing I’m gonna do is fire them and get a new staff.”
While Willard appeared to be joking, he walked back to the bench with a straight face after the short interview. Villanova has since responded to its slow start, leading Utah State 39-37 at halftime.
Willard, in his first season at Villanova after leaving Maryland, led the Wildcats to a 24-8 record during the regular season and the Big East tournament. It’s Villanova’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2022, when Jay Wright led the program to the Final Four before he retired.
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Willard took over for Kyle Neptune, who failed to reach the NCAA Tournament in three seasons at the helm.
Willard surpassed the first weekend for the first time in his career last season at Maryland, leading the Terrapins to the Sweet 16. He’ll have to defeat Utah State and then No. 1 seed Arizona in the second round to make it two in a row.
In the chance Willard wasn’t joking, his assistant coaching staff is probably hoping Villanova wins in the first round on March 20.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kevin Willard jokes he’ll fire Villanova staff after slow start
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