Gary Williams first gave his opinion on new Maryland basketball coach Kevin Willard in an interview with Sports Junkies. What does he especially like about Willard?
“His work ethic. I have watched him for many years. You know, I’ve read some of the things Jay Wright said about Kevin Willard and I really agree. He brings it every day.
for work, for play. His commands reflect this. They really work hard. But there is one thing you can be pretty consistent about, and that is your defense. Sometimes the ball is not included in the attack, you know, you just don’t have it in the attack,” he said.
“But you can still win matches based on how hard you work and your defense. And I think he brings that ethic to the program. And I think the players appreciate it. work hard every day. If they know it’s a coach, then they respect it. And I think that’s the strength that Kevin definitely brings.”
One of the common complaints about former Turps coach Mark Turgeon was that he did not hire or bring in former players. Williams expects this to change under Willard.
“The Maryland connection is important. To be honest, I think one of the reasons Mark [Turgeon] a bit there was no connection with former players or anyone else. And you look at some headquarters, like Carolina, Syracuse, they all have former players. Duke is another example. They have all former players on their staff. So it will be interesting what happens over time with the staff. Kevin understands this. He was the head coach, he said. He understands the importance of personnel and how personnel are suited to a particular job. It’s not just about hiring really good basketball players as assistant coaches, but do they fit in with what you’re dealing with in your particular situation?”
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It has been suggested that no Maryland coach could ever match Williams’ accomplishments.
“It is not true. I think we as a university have the resources and especially the assets, that’s the only thing that goes into getting into the Big Ten.
the difference is in the financial package, right now the ACC is on the Big Ten Network, in all football stuff, and Big Ten is definitely doing it. And I think you’ve seen it in [Kevin Willard]
hire what Maryland can do. And that’s what you have to do,” he said.
“You look at the Southeast Conference, you look at the G12. And suddenly their basketball conference is as good as any basketball conference in the country. You have to go after these guys and do what they do in order to, you know, both of these conferences attract really good coaches. [coaches] and then good things happen.”