Ralph Willard

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Ralph Willard

Title Head coach
College Holy Cross
Sport Basketball
Career highlights
Championships
Patriot League Tournament Championship (2001, 2002, 2003, 2007)
Patriot League Regular Season Championship (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007)
Sun Belt Tournament Championship (1993)
Sun Belt Regular Season Championship (1994)
Awards
Patriot League Coach of the Year (2001, 2005, 2007)
Playing career
1964-1967 Holy Cross
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1984-1985
1986-1987
1987-1989
1989-1990
1990-1994
1994-1999
1999-present
Hofstra (asst.)
Syracuse (asst.)
New York Knicks (asst.)
Kentucky (asst.)
Western Kentucky
Pittsburgh
Holy Cross

Ralph Willard is an American college head coach of men's basketball. He is currently head coach at the College of the Holy Cross.

His first collegiate head coaching position began at Western Kentucky University in 1990. He was a high school coach prior to that with 19 years experience. After a one-year as an assistant at the Merchant Marine Academy (1971-1972), he served 13 seasons as the head coach of his high school alma mater, St. Dominic (Oyster Bay, New York). His 1980 squad won the New York Class B Championship, and he was chosen as the conference coach of the year five times.

Willard began his collegiate coaching career in 1984 as an assistant coach at Hofstra University, followed by a year on Jim Boeheim's staff at Syracuse University. There he helped the team advance to the NCAA championship game in 1987.

For two seasons Willard served under Rick Pitino with the NBA New York Knicks, before following Pitino to the University of Kentucky, where he served as associate head coach for the 1989-1990 season.

Willard was head coach at the University of Pittsburgh from 1994-1999, where his win-loss record was 63-82 (.434).

Willard, a 1967 graduate of Holy Cross, was a three-year letterwinner and was team captain of the 1966-1967 basketball team.

Willard's son, Kevin, was named the head men's basketball coach at Iona College on April 10, 2007.

[edit] References

  • Sciullo, Sam, Jr. (2005). Pitt: 100 Years of Pitt Basketball. Champaign: Sports Publishing. ISBN 1-59670-081-5. 

[edit] External links