| Kevin Willard | |
|---|---|
| Sport(s) | Basketball |
| Current position | |
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Seton Hall |
| Record | 24-18 |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | April 6, 1975 |
| Place of birth | Huntington, New York, USA |
| Playing career | |
| 1992–1993 1994–1997 |
Western Kentucky Pittsburgh |
| Position(s) | Point guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1997–2001 2001–2007 2007–2010 2010–present |
Boston Celtics (asst.) Louisville (asst.) Iona Seton Hall |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 69-67 |
Kevin Willard (born April 6, 1975 in Huntington, New York) is an American college basketball coach and the current head men's basketball coach at Seton Hall University, and former coach of Iona College. He took over Iona from Jeff Ruland on April 10, 2007.[1]
In his third season with Iona, Willard led the Gaels to the 14th 20-win season in program history. It was a nine-win improvement from his first two seasons in New Rochelle. After inheriting a program that was 10th to last in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), the Gaels improved to a Top 80 RPI in 2009–10, the highest turnaround over the timespan in NCAA Division I. After completing the turnaround, Willard accepted a head coaching position in the Big East with Seton Hall University on March 28, 2010.[2]
Willard came to Iona after spending ten years as an assistant under Rick Pitino. He started his coaching career in the NBA ranks, working on the bench with the Boston Celtics. After Pitino resigned from the Celtics in 2001, Willard followed him to Louisville, and spent the next six years as an assistant there.
Willard played basketball at Western Kentucky during the 1992–93 season (his freshman year) before transferring to Pittsburgh to finish his career.
Willard's father, Ralph Willard, is the associate head coach at the Louisville and a former head men's basketball coach at Holy Cross, Pittsburgh and Western Kentucky.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iona (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) (2007–2010) | |||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Iona | 12–20 | 8–10 | 7th | MAAC First Round | ||||
| 2008–2009 | Iona | 12–19 | 7–11 | 7th | MAAC First Round | ||||
| 2009–2010 | Iona | 21–10 | 12–6 | 3rd | MAAC Quarterfinal Round | ||||
| Iona: | 45–49 | 27–27 | |||||||
| Seton Hall (Big East Conference) (2010–present) | |||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Seton Hall | 13–17 | 7-11 | 12th | |||||
| 2011–2012 | Seton Hall | 11–1 | 2–1 | ||||||
| Seton Hall: | 24–18 | 7–11 | |||||||
| Total: | 69–67 | ||||||||
|
National champion Conference regular season champion Conference tournament champion |
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