Scott Van Pelt drops scorching take on Kevin Willard amid move to Villanova

Kevin Willard is gone from the Maryland Terrapins, but not without leaving a big controversy in his wake. After all the posturing and ranting Willard did in the past three months, ultimately, he chose his path, and he decided to go to Villanova and leave the Terrapins.

One of Maryland’s biggest fans in the media, ESPN's Scott Van Pelt, tore into Willard’s actions and how he conducted himself to the athletic administration and well-known boosters in the past few months. On his podcast, SVPod, the Maryland alum unleashed a scathing remark on Willard.

"Of course, Kevin Willard can go to Villanova. Of course, you can go back to your Big East roots. Of course, if it's better for your family," Van Pelt said. "But maybe you don't take a giant s*** on the front steps of the house you've lived in the last three years. You don't do damage to the university and the program you've been for three years."

He also addressed the rumor that even before Maryland was eliminated in this year’s March Madness tournament, Willard knew that he was leaving College Park for Villanova.

"And you don't take the efforts of the people behind the scenes who've largely poured their hearts and souls into this for free, for you, to try to fill in the gaps and tell them that ... 'I just want this program to be the best it can be,'" Van Pelt said.

"Maybe you don't tell those people that to their face repeatedly, when everyone in the industry is saying to me, 'Scott, why are you guys wasting your time? This is done.' Everyone in the business knows it. He's gone."

Villanova announced Willard as its new head coach on Sunday, but Van Pelt was told that even before Maryland’s Sweet 16 matchup against the Florida Gators on Thursday that Willard was leaving amid concerns that this run by the Terrapins will not last. The Sweet 16 appearance was the program’s best run since 2016.

While Willard compiled a 65-39 record in his three seasons for the Terrapins, his tenure was marked with complaints about the team’s NIL situation, the schedule and the travel, which got worse when USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington joined the Big Ten. He didn’t have to deal with those issues in his 12-year run at Seton Hall in the Big East.

It all came to a head last month when Willard used a news conference to air out his grievances ahead of the Terrapins’ run in the NCAA Tournament. To add insult to injury, he even made a show of commitment to the team, even though he reportedly knew he was accepting the Villanova job.

His statements wound up Van Pelt even more, and he ripped into Willard some more in his podcast.

"I was very vocal in saying I agreed with him, that he should get those things," Van Pelt said. "One hundred percent, he was not wrong. But what really troubles me is asking good and decent people that busted their (butts) on your behalf to jump through hoops to give you the things you want, knowing full well nothing they give you ... ain't gonna be enough because you're gone.

"It's the exact same script as when we got him from Seton Hall, almost to the same lines."

Maryland hires Texas A&M’s Buzz Williams

Maryland moved on quickly from Kevin Willard, hiring another coach with plenty of experience.

Buzz Williams arrives in College Park after six seasons with the Texas A&M Aggies, compiling a 120-73 record. He led the Aggies to a 23-11 record, which was good for fifth in the rough-and-tumble SEC, and a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, bowing out in the Round of 32 to the Michigan Wolverines.

Williams is known as a program builder who will bring stability to a program struggling with consistency ever since they won the national title in 2002 with Gary Williams. Since joining the Big Ten in 2014, Maryland has only played in the March Madness tournament seven times, getting past the second round only twice with a pair of Sweet 16 appearances.