Kevin Willard quote book: Villanova introduction

On his first four days as Villanova head coach:

“The last couple days have been great. I mean, the Villanova community has been so welcoming and tremendous. It’s just been a little bit overwhelming with how much support and how much excitement we’ve been getting, but the last couple days have been great. I went to see our women’s team play in Indianapolis, which was phenomenal going to support them, sat down with the team Monday night, got to meet those guys—all six returners, a great group of kids—got to watch the game yesterday out in Vegas, met with a bunch of donors, took a redeye back here, walked in on campus, did some HR stuff and a lot of portal stuff, and now I’m talking to you guys.”

On his message to the Villanova community:

“I think the simple message is I’m going to embrace the Villanova community and embrace the Villanova way. This is a special culture that Coach Wright really built, I think that (president) Father (Peter) Donohue has built on this campus. I’m excited to join that community and join that culture, and then from a basketball standpoint, we’re going to keep building on what got us there. That’s the biggest thing, we’re just gonna keep building. I’m excited to be back in the Big East, be back in a great basketball conference. I’m excited to get everyone engaged again. I think that’s been the message, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”

On Villanova being a better job than Maryland:

“I don’t look at it that way. I look at it as two great programs, two great jobs. For me, Villanova was a great fit for me and my family. I’ve known ’Nova—for three years, I played in the Big East, the 12 years I coached in the Big East, I’m very good friends with Jay, I’m very good friends with a lot of alumni—so they’re both great programs. I was blessed to be at Maryland. It’s a great spot, I loved it, but for me, Villanova is just a great fit for me and my family.”

On his comments during the NCAA Tournament:

“Everything I said during the press conference was because at Maryland, I was very passionate about my job. Very simply, I was trying to get the best for my players and the best for the program. I’m going to do the same thing here at Villanova. My comments were just about having an opportunity to get…to try to make Maryland the best program we could make it. I’m always going to try to make our programs better. I’m very passionate about my job, passionate about my players, it’s as simple as it was. I’m always going to fight for my program, I’m always going to fight for my players, and that’s as simple as it was.”

On NIL and revenue distribution factoring into his decision to leave Maryland:

“I can’t comment on anyone else moving. I can say I moved because this is a great fit, it’s a great culture, it’s an unbelievable university, and it’s a phenomenal basketball program.”

On speaking to Jay Wright before taking the job:

“I talked to Jay Saturday night, I guess five days ago, Saturday night after I met with Father Donohue and (athletic director) Eric (Roedl), and yes, I just asked him. I said, ‘Jay, would you be okay if I did take this job?’ And Jay was great, he was like, ‘I’m 100 percent behind you,’ he said, ‘I think you’d be great there.’ He sold me on Villanova, and I would not have even thought of taking this job if I had not talked to Jay and he had not sold Villanova the way he did.”

On winning championships at Villanova:

“Yeah, absolutely. I think this is a place that has proven—not only during Jay’s time, but you think about 1985 and the Big East, you think of what UConn’s done, obviously what Jay’s done. I think the Big East has always been a basketball-centric league, so coming back into this league and seeing what they’ve done over the last eight, nine years in college basketball, this is a place that—definitely—we can get back to winning championships.”

On his memory of Villanova’s success and what he wants to emulate from it:

“I think two big things: I think the guys they were able to recruit—you look at all the pros that Jay was able to bring in here and develop—I think that’s something that every coach during that time, especially in the Big East, really kind of respected what Jay was doing from a recruiting standpoint, but most importantly from a player development standpoint. I think that’s something that we’re really going to focus on now that the portal has kind of changed. We want to focus on high school kids and develop them, making them a priority again. And at the same time, I think everyone really realized systems work, and Jay had a really, really good system. He’d space you out, jump stop and pivoting, all that stuff. So I think learning from what Jay had done, seeing what he had done here, we’re going to try to do the same thing.”

On whether or not it was strange to wear Villanova gear for the first time:

“Yes. I’m not gonna lie. I’m still very close with a large group of Seton Hall supporters, and I had to get their blessing too, because this is a—we’ve had so many great battles. I talked to Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson already, and those guys, we start talking automatically about how great those battles were, how much we respected each other. So as much as I love wearing this right now, the first time I put it on was a little bit of a shock.”

On putting his own stamp on the Villanova culture:

“Absolutely. No one’s ever going to be Jay, and what I mean by—Jay and Villanova created a culture with their players, the brotherhood, that I think any coach in the country has to embrace and has to understand how powerful it is. I’m not going to fight the culture, it’s probably the best basketball culture in the country. My job now is to, in that new world of NIL, transfer portal, is to put what I’ve learned into how we play offensively and defensively, and kind of adapt to the new style of college basketball. So as much as I’m going to embrace the culture and the Villanova way, I have to now get Villanova to adapt now to a new era of college basketball, and that’s really where my stamp has to come into this program.”

On a prospective staff:

“I’m not going to talk about staff right now, or players, just because our team plays tomorrow night. They’re trying to win a championship. I think Mike (Nardi) was phenomenal last night, I know all those guys, I respect all those guys, I think everyone needs to respect what they’re doing right now. They’re still playing. We watched the game last night, we’re gonna watch it Thursday and support them, and right now, that’s all I’m focused on right now.”

On the right balance between high school players and transfers:

“That’s really the magical question. I do think that the COVID years getting out, the sixth-year guys getting flushed out of the system, so to say, I think the portal’s going to shrink dramatically in the next couple of years, so I think it’s really important to develop young men. That’s our job as college coaches, I enjoy that aspect of coaching more than anything, so we’re still going to recruit high school kids and we’re going to develop high school kids because I think they can help you—year to year—develop your culture, keep your culture. It’s very hard to just bring transfers in every year and keep a culture that you want to work, so I think there has to be a balance. And I had one of the best freshmen I’ve ever coached this year in Derik Queen, and he helped our culture. He came in and he was great. I also had Julian Reese, that stayed with me for three years, and he taught our culture to the younger guys, so I think there has to be a fine balance of it. I don’t think it’s the same year in and year out, I think some years, you’re gonna recruit some freshmen, you might have a four-man freshman class, some years you might have two. It just depends on, in all honesty, who transfers and who stays.”

On which players might stay:

“I had a great conversation with them on Monday night, but I told them: I want you guys to concentrate. You’re still playing. It’s a great opportunity for all of them, again, to try to win a championship. You’ve got Mike out there, first time coaching, give him everything, and I said when we get back on Monday, we’ll have a team meeting and we’ll go from there. But I want them just to thoroughly enjoy playing, thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to try to win a championship.”

On working with general manager Baker Dunleavy:

“I’m looking forward to working with Baker. He has been really good so far with me. I didn’t have a GM at Maryland, so it’s kind of nice that he’s been back doing this for two years and understands the agent side, dealing with the money side, and I think we’re going to continue to evolve. I don’t think you can have one set way. I think every year, more and more agents are getting involved, the transfer portal changes, the timeline changes, so I think the one thing we’ll be is very flexible, and continue to evolve as the rules change and the House settlement kicks in. Things are going to change dramatically, maybe on April 7th, so you have to be able to adapt and evolve, and Baker’s been great because he’s been doing this for the last two years and he’s got a great basketball mind. He understands what my vision for this program is, so I’m looking forward to working with him.”

On defense being important to winning games:

“The easiest thing to do when you get a new team is to teach defense, and I think the way we go at it and really concentrate on it early in the season is really just to concentrate on the defensive side, just because once you set those boundaries and you get good defense in practice, you can have good offense going against good defense. So I’ve always been a little more on the defensive-centric side because we play so fast offensively, and I give a lot of freedom to my guys. The one thing I always feel that you can control as a player is your effort and your defense. That’s a non-negotiable with me. I know my players are going to give me great effort, I know they’re going to play good defense, because that’s the one thing—when they come here—that’s kind of the contract. You come play hard, you come work hard, you play defense, you get to do what you want to do offensively. So I think that’s one reason why my teams have always been good defensively, it’s just because my guys understand if they do what they’re supposed to do on the defensive end, a) they won’t come out and b) they have the freedom to play offense.”

On his coaching philosophy:

“I would say, to be honest with you, Mia, my coaching philosophy is constantly changing as the world of college basketball has changed. What I will say is I understand the Villanova way, I understand the Villanova culture and the attitude, and the former players, former coaches. And my coaching style will fit in with the fact that we’re going to play hard, we’re going to play in a way that respects the guys that came before us, the coaches that came before us. I feel like my style can fit really well here with what has been done in the past.”

On being back in the Big East and what fans can expect:

“It feels great. I think the Big East is obviously—if not the best—one of the best basketball conferences in the country. I played in the Big East way back in the day, I coached 12 years, the Big East tournament by far is probably the best five days of college basketball, it is an event in and of itself, so just to get back to the Big East tournament is really exciting. And my message to fans would be to get excited. We’re going to bring a great group of guys in here, they’re going to play hard, we’re going to play a fun style. I just want the fan base to—I know it’s been a tough couple of years, but like I said, Kyle and his staff have done a phenomenal job trying to navigate a very tough situation—I just want the fan base to get excited again. We’re going to play a fun style, we’re going to get after it, and we’re going to try to get this program back to where it belongs.”

On advantages from the House settlement:

“If you understand the House settlement and cap space, and all that stuff, I think the Big East is situated in a really unique situation where we’re probably never going to have to worry about the cap. I think football-centric schools or football conferences are going to—basketball schools are going to run into the fact that if you give $16 million to football, you only have a $3 million cap where in the Big East, you just don’t have that issue. So I think the Big East has really positioned itself to be in a really good position with the House settlement.”

On his empathy for how Maryland fans may feel about his departure:

“Obviously, I think some of my comments during the NCAA Tournament really could have been a little bit less abrasive, but unfortunately, sometimes my passion for my program and my passion for my players comes out and I get a little excited. The only thing I’m going to say is normal fans don’t understand what went on. I had such a great team, I was so focused on my team, so focused on my players. Man, those were two close games, hitting the buzzer-beater against Colorado State, being out west with my team for 12 days was such a great experience for me, we had so much fun out there. The timeline, no one knows it, no one understands it, I can’t change that, I’m not worried about that. All I’m going to say is that I know they just got a great coach in Buzz (Williams). I’m really happy for him and I’m super excited to be back in a great basketball conference here, and I just think it’s time that everyone moved on.”

On recruiting the Philadelphia area:

“I’ve recruited Philly for years, and I think Philly’s toughness—they know how to play the game, that’s what I love about Philly guys. I loved coaching Hakim (Hart), I’ve already talked to Donta (Scott), he’s super excited, so when he comes back, he can come hang out. Donta’s going to be a guy I rely on because he’s such a great kid. I love Philly players, I think their coaches run great AAU programs in this area, great high school programs in this area, so I’m just excited to be part of that Philly basketball scene.”

On being part of the Big 5:

“I’m super excited about that. I’ve always been really jealous about that, what a unique situation in college basketball that this area has and that all these teams get to play against each other and compete against each other. So for me, this is really cool to be joining that Big 5 and being part of that. I’m really excited about that.”

Dan Geriot introduced at Iona, promises forward thinking in reshaping Gaels’ program and roster

Dan Geriot poses with wife and son shortly before being formally introduced as new head coach at Iona. (Photo by Iona Athletics)

When he was hired as head coach at Iona two weeks ago, Dan Geriot came with a track record of professional basketball success, having spent a decade on the staffs of two NBA franchises and working alongside the likes of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Zion Williamson among others. James, in particular, was among many NBA players to laud Geriot’s skill set when his arrival in New Rochelle was declared official, taking to social media to praise the former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach, who also spent time with the New Orleans Pelicans this season.

Geriot was officially introduced in his new capacity Tuesday, ushering in a new regime at a proven winner and selling himself as a forward thinker whose goal is to develop talent and groom them for the next level while also upholding a winning standard that has existed for a majority of the past half-century.

“It’s already felt like home here,” Geriot said as he was introduced by Iona athletic director Matt Glovaski as the Gaels’ 16th full-time head coach, and fourth in the past seven seasons. “We’re giving Iona what it deserves. With this support and alignment, we have an ability to change players’ lives, and vice versa. Players can change our lives with the type of guys we’re bringing in.”

The 36-year-old Geriot, along with Craig Moore—hired last week as Iona’s first-ever general manager, a growing trend in college basketball with the advent of the transfer portal and NIL legislation changing the landscape of the sport—will need to hit the ground running as they take over a program that played for a MAAC tournament championship on March 15 before former head coach Tobin Anderson was unceremoniously axed two days later.

“The consistency we put into this thing is the most critical part,” Geriot said as he discussed his plan to build a winner. “I’m going to be on the court with (the players) every day. We’re going to have the best player development program in the country.”

“That’s what I’m after every day. That’s what we did for a decade in the NBA. I want to focus on guys who can really dribble and pass. There’s a lost art to what we’re doing, and that will be something you’ll see a ton of as we continue on this journey.”

At the moment, only three scholarship players from this past season still remain on the Iona roster, with the remainder having entered the portal in the wake of Anderson’s stunning dismissal. It should be noted, though, that no Iona player has presently committed elsewhere, giving Geriot and his staff—which will retain assistant coach Pat Wallace—an opening to potentially re-recruit some of last year’s Gaels back to New Rochelle.

“The people in this program are going to matter so much,” Geriot insisted. “We need to understand that people matter more than anything else, and we need to get selfless faster.”

As for what Iona will look like on the court next season, Geriot cited an offensive attack with multiple ball handlers and an intricate scheme on both ends of the floor that will involve turning teams over, pushing the pace, and playing a high-IQ style, which mirrors the system he himself played in under Chris Mooney at Richmond in the late 2000s. But with seven more months before the ball is tipped, the only thing the new coach can sell is a vision, one he made clear from the onset on Tuesday.

“This program is going to mean so much to this place,” Geriot declared. “It already does. We’re going to compete against high-majors, we’re going to get real guys in here with our retained guys, and (we’ll) get this thing off the ground quickly. We deserve it. That’s the vision and the plan.”

Doug Bruno’s greatest achievement is not his record, but his legacy after almost 40 years at DePaul

Doug Bruno, who won nearly 800 games in a career that spanned almost four decades, announced his retirement recently, leaving behind a legacy not only at DePaul, but in the game of women’s basketball. (Photo by the Chicago Sun-Times)

By Ray Floriani (@rfloriani)

For nearly four decades, he was on the sidelines. This past season kept him out due to health reasons.

Doug Bruno wanted to be back in his normal role and doing what he loves best: Game planning and teaching his team fundamentals and life lessons. On his own decision, it was not to be.

Several days ago, the veteran and venerable DePaul women’s basketball coach called it a career.

The exact count was 38 years and a record of 786-402. Beyond the wins, losses and accolades, understand this: Doug Bruno was a DePaul and Chicago institution. Mikan? Meyer? Aguirre? You had best add Bruno to the list of Blue Demon legends as well.

Bruno played his high school ball at Quigley Preparatory Seminary South in Chicago. Legendary coach Ray Meyer recruited Bruno to DePaul. Bruno accepted Meyer’s offer and has been a fixture in Lincoln Park ever since. He played at DePaul from 1969 through 1973. Following his graduation, he spent a year spent as a boys’ assistant coach at Parker High School, and the following year in a similar position at St. Vincent DePaul High School. Bruno then moved to his alma mater as the head women’s coach from 1976 through 1978, before leaving to guide the Chicago Hustle of the Women’s Professional Basketball League for two seasons. It was back on campus after that, as Bruno served as a men’s assistant coach at Loyola from 1980 through 1988 before finally returning to DePaul for his second stint in 1988 that became a place to call home.

Bruno’s introduction to women’s basketball was memorable. It was 1975, and Bruno, all of 25 years of age, was asked to coach the women’s basketball team at DePaul. He took the job, adding to several existing duties in the DePaul athletic department. That first year, he led the Blue Demons to an 11-10 record. He found out a lot regarding the state of the game and the manner in which coaches at all women’s programs had to battle for every possible resource.

Half a century ago, there were no charter flights for away games, no contests staged in huge arenas nor any television coverage to speak of. It was a time in which Bruno had to fight for uniforms, practice time, ways to get to games—usually with him driving a van he purchased—and getting games. Meals on the road? McDonald’s.

There was no full-time staff. Virtually all the head coaches had other duties in the school or full-time jobs outside of DePaul. Bruno, in fact, was informed in that first season that because he was already an athletic department employee, he would not be paid extra for his coaching duties. The whole experience proved a revelation, lasting through his career in the women’s game.

Several years ago he told Global Sport Matters, “all of a sudden, you start to understand how hard the fighting is for the women in our society.”

It was beyond X’s and O’s, as he added, “my job was to grow and develop female leadership.”

Bruno and UConn’s Geno Auriemma coached against each other, and later with each other. They have been friends for years. Auriemma took the time at a press conference in Spokane where his Huskies were playing in the NCAA Tournament to share his thoughts on Bruno. The two guided the U.S. national team, with Auriemma as head coach and Bruno assisting, to Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016.

“There haven’t been a lot of people in the history of women’s basketball that have given as much to the game as he has,” Auriemma said of Bruno. “He’s an institution. I don’t think there’s a kid in the Midwest—name all the states, I don’t care. Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois—they know someone or they themselves have been to Doug Bruno’s basketball camp over the years.”

Bruno’s camp has been in existence since 1980, with over 80,000 girls aged 7-18 attending over the years. The motto for his camp is expert instruction, proper discipline and loving the game. It is no coincidence that these are the cornerstones of his message imparted to his DePaul women’s players for decades.

Throughout his coaching career, Bruno was always searching for innovative ways to improve himself and his program. Bruno subscribes to the eye test in evaluating players. He also has an interest in, and utilizes, tempo-free statistics. After covering his games, he would ask what offensive efficiency or points per possession I had. We would compare results. Bruno also felt a new possession started after a shot or turnover. We discussed the differences, as yours truly uses the KenPom method, where a possession ends when the opposition gets the ball. Those discussions would be short after a game, but more lengthy when we would meet at a Big East media day.

Bruno also had a pet peeve about double-doubles. He felt a more deserving classification would be if a player had double figures in two or more of the rebounding, assist, steal or block categories.

A favorite memory of Doug Bruno from this writer’s perspective had to do with more than the game’s outcome. Truthfully, I cannot remember who emerged victorious that night. Several years ago, DePaul was visiting Seton Hall. That season I was usually seated next to a young lady, a sophomore writing for Seton Hall’s student newspaper, The Setonian. As the game went on, she told me she had to interview the visiting coach and was nervous. After the game, prior to the interviews, I reached out to Doug and told him the situation. He said not to worry.

In our interview session, Doug reached out and greeted the young lady with a handshake. He asked her name, year in school, hometown and major. He then answered every question politely and thoroughly. At the close of the interview, he told the young lady, “thank you for your coverage and your support of women’s basketball.” 

Vintage Doug Bruno. Telling that story to those who know him personally, no one is really surprised.

“Doug will go down as not only a Hall of Fame coach and the face of DePaul women’s basketball,” Big East commissioner Val Ackerman said, “but as a tireless mentor and advocate for his players and one of the fiercest champions of women’s basketball the sport has ever known.”

Additional plaudits came from DePaul athletic director DeWayne Peevy, who stated, “Doug’s extraordinary impact on DePaul University and the game of women’s basketball is nothing short of legendary. For nearly four decades, Doug has been the heart and soul of our program, elevating it to national prominence while setting a standard of excellence that transcends wins and losses.”

The resume shows 786 wins at DePaul, 18th in Division I history. Included are 25 NCAA Tournament appearances, 19 conference titles, four Sweet 16 appearances and 221 weeks in the AP Top 25 poll under his guidance. Fifteen of his DePaul players were drafted by WNBA teams, including two-time Sixth Player of the Year Allie Quigley. Bruno also navigated the program smoothly through several conference changes. The Blue Demons played in the North Star, Great Midwest, and Conference USA before joining their present Big East affiliation. Each of the conference stops along the way saw at least one conference title.

Bruno would have liked to keep coaching, but knew the time was right to step down. He had the utmost praise for Jill Pizzotti, who stepped in and took over during his absence.

“Jill’s leadership of our program has been exemplary,” Bruno said, “as has been the extra effort of our entire staff.”

While the school goes on a national search—his personal choice is Pizzotti—for his successor, Bruno will stay on at DePaul as the special assistant to the vice president/director of athletics for women’s basketball.

“I owe my professional athletic life to DePaul University,” Bruno said in a statement. “Starting with coach Ray Meyer offering me a scholarship in 1968 and continuing through my athletic department roles as ticket manager, facilities director, academic advisor, athletic administrator and head women’s basketball coach, DePaul University has been my home for 44 years.”

DePaul will still be home. Bruno obviously will allow his successor to run his or her own program. He will be there for guidance and advice if needed. That’s a great thing for all coaches and players in the DePaul program. It’s great for all who love the women’s game. It’s great to know that someone who has given so much to it, on and off the floor, will still be very much a part of it.

A belated postmortem on St. John’s, focusing more on what this year was and less on how it ended

With 31 wins and Big East championship, this year is still cause for celebration at St. John’s despite early NCAA Tournament exit. (Photo by St. John’s Athletics)

In a perfect world, today would be a day for celebration on the corner of Union and Utopia, with St. John’s having either powered through the West regional to reach its first Final Four in 40 years or having come up just short, but still reaching the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the first time this century.

Instead, the Red Storm’s season came to a screeching halt nine days ago, derailed in a slugfest against Arkansas after Kadary Richmond fouled out on a controversial call with just over six minutes remaining in regulation, while RJ Luis attempted to fight through an uncharacteristic 3-for-17 effort.

Still, and the later nature of this column due to extensive tournament travel allows the proper time to put everything in perspective, the campaign the Johnnies concluded last week should be celebrated, and deservedly so.

A 31-5 record, the win total matching the most ever in a single season, from a program that has been in existence since 1907. An 18-2 mark in Big East play, matching the bar set by one of the greatest teams in the history of the sport, last year’s UConn outfit. The first NCAA Tournament victory after 25 years of suffering and wandering the desert.

Look back on the past five months with reverence at those milestones the next time you—a St. John’s fan—wonder what could have been against Arkansas, what may have happened if Richmond didn’t pick up his fifth foul on a shaky whistle that had disrupted the entire game, how drastically different the tenor of the closing minutes would be had Luis, or any of his teammates outside of Zuby Ejiofor, been able to hit a shot.

St. John’s today stands far more stable than it did a quarter-century ago when it relished its most recent win in March before this year. Mike Jarvis struggled to a sub-.500 finish in the 2000-01 campaign after losing the likes of Erick Barkley, Bootsy Thornton and Lavor Postell. Thanks to Rick Pitino, who—love him or hate him—has already proven himself worthy of a statue alongside the bust of Joe Lapchick outside the Carnesecca media entrance, the Red Storm is already in position to be at or near the top of the Big East once more next season. Ejiofor announced his return this past weekend, one that almost everyone knew was coming but needed to be declared official in light of the landscape of the sport. Luis entered the transfer portal and will also look to the NBA Draft, but at the moment, everyone else with remaining eligibility is also on track to return to Queens, and Pitino has already racked up a verbal commitment in the transfer portal from Arizona State expatriate Joson Sanon. Look for him to shore up the well-documented gap in St. John’s shooting this past year. Bryce Hopkins, a former all-Big East forward at Providence, visited the school recently and has been rumored to become the latest piece in the reformation, but his destination remains unofficial.

There will be more twists and turns to come as the offseason rages on, but take solace in this as a St. John’s fan: This year is merely a precursor to what lies ahead as long as Pitino is in town.

“There’s always a silver lining in every cloud,” he said of his journey back to the college game, which began with a detour in Greece. “It rejuvenated me, it stopped me from being bitter. It’s just adversity. You can look adversity square in the eyes and piss all over it if you’re smart.”

“It’s been fun. It’s been a blast. Next year, we’ll have about six or seven players returning, and that’ll be a major benefit.”

Remember this year for what it was: The national reemergence, the multiple sellouts at Madison Square Garden, the old-school style used to leave no doubt who was better at the final buzzer. The defense that was, at one point, the best and most efficient in the nation, the top 5 ranking, the short work of the Big East tournament to be rewarded with a No. 2 seed on Selection Sunday. The memory of Lou Carnesecca and his indelible imprint on his hometown program, one on which he looks down from his perch above and smiles with pride at how it has risen from where it once sat amid the rubble.

If last year was act one of this revival off Broadway and this year served as act two, you may want to hit the concession stand now before act three begins. You may regret not being around to see it.

To everyone who read, engaged, supported, or even criticized my St. John’s coverage this season: Thank you for all the interaction. You all made the best season for the team in my time covering it entertaining, sometimes stressful, but largely enjoyable.

More reflection will come in next month’s epilogue, but I couldn’t leave it unwrapped after going from Providence to Raleigh and back. Thanks again.

Duke buries Alabama, heads back to Final Four

Jon Scheyer greets media as he celebrates Duke’s East regional championship Saturday. Scheyer now heads to first Final Four since replacing Mike Krzyzewski as Blue Devils’ coach in 2022. (Photo by Sam Federman/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Sam Federman (@Sam_Federman)

NEWARK, N.J. — With a rousing ovation from Duke’s quasi-home crowd inside the Prudential Center, the Blue Devils put the finishing touches on yet another dominant performance against Alabama, winning 85-65 to book a trip to the Final Four.

Duke is a historically good basketball team. Now 35-3, ACC double champions, and East regional champions, the Blue Devils taking down the Crimson Tide isn’t something that people didn’t see coming. But to hold the nation’s fourth-ranked offense to its second-worst output of the season, 0.89 points per possession, and to lead from start to finish in doing so, is.

This group of Blue Devils may be one of the best teams in recent memory in college basketball, and they’ll have the chance to prove that next week in San Antonio. But for this program, it’s the standard.

For most programs, they’d be at least satisfied with getting to the Elite 8 in year two with a young head coach, but at Duke, it’s the bare minimum. Jon Scheyer has repeatedly discussed how every single decision that the staff and team made since the day of that defeat has come down to making it back to that moment, and capitalizing, especially knowing that he had a truly special talent in Cooper Flagg coming into the program.

Flagg has lived up to the hype, if not exceeding it, but the success of everybody around him coming together to form this superteam has been a credit to those decisions.

One of those decisions, taking Sion James, a transfer from Tulane, has helped bolster the backcourt throughout the year. And even though his Duke journey didn’t start until his fifth year in college, he understands what it means to wear the jersey, while his history at a smaller program also allows him valuable perspective on what makes Duke special.

“(Making the Final Four) is the expectation,” James said. “Because of how it’s been here, but it’s not a guarantee by any means. Just because we go to Duke doesn’t mean that we’re going to be in the Final Four every year, it’s a grind.”

While Final Fours are always special, it takes winning two more games after that to truly leave an indelible mark on the Duke basketball legacy. This year’s team has the second highest KenPom net rating of any since that metric started in 1996-97, trailing only the 1998-99 Blue Devils.

But that Duke team, despite finishing 37-2 and going 16-0 in a strong ACC, and losing two games by a combined five points, isn’t typically mentioned in the conversation of greatest college basketball team ever. It’s because it didn’t win on Monday night.

If anything has been proven throughout this season, it’s that Duke doesn’t need to do anything out of character to beat anybody in the country, really by any margin it wants. It all comes down to execution.

“How can we continue to be us with different distractions and different environment,” Scheyer said is the main thing on his mind heading into the Final Four. “So that’s up to us to help as a coaching staff, but I know our guys will be excited and up for the challenge.”

It’s a coaching staff that lost quasi-defensive coordinator Jai Lucas to the head coaching position at Miami before the ACC tournament, but the defense looked far from uncoordinated.

Kon Knueppel played one of his best defensive games of the season against Alabama. Khaman Maluach continues to grow, and stuck with Mark Sears plenty on switches, while the ultimate trump card of Flagg’s versatility has continued to wreak havoc all tournament long. Sears didn’t score until the final minutes of the opening half, with Alabama coach Nate Oats deciding to sit him on the bench for a few minutes twice in favor of Aden Holloway.

Duke forced the Tide into much longer possessions than they’re used to, switching ball screens with length and discipline to limit any sort of advantages that Alabama typically creates.

“We have a luxury to have a guy with Khaman where he can really play different coverages,” Scheyer said. “We have a 7-foot-2 guy switching onto one of the best guards in the country and he’s doing a pretty good job moving his feet.”

There were points in the game where Duke completely shut off the paint, and there were points in the game where Duke completely shut off Alabama’s ability to get threes off. And throughout the game, it was the Tide’s inability to find either that illustrated Duke’s dominance.

No matter what gameplan you want to throw at the Blue Devils, they can take it away. After all, they’re top five in the country in both offense and defense, having won games by 20-plus points without going to 60 possessions, and going above 70 possessions. It’s the combination of size, skill, shooting, strength, and overall maturity that makes this Duke team truly special.

If you let it play the game on its terms, you’re going to lose. You can try to play it on your own terms, but you’re still going to lose, and probably by a lot.

It may not be the exact same as when Mike Krzyzewski roamed the sidelines. The team seems markedly less hateable to the average college basketball fan (while my editor will disagree with his Carolina-blue tinted glasses, the sentiment has permeated the sport). Many who hated past Duke stars can’t find it in them to hate Flagg the same way. But that doesn’t mean Coach K’s presence isn’t still felt in some way, especially for Scheyer.

“I’ve always wanted to make him proud,” Scheyer said. “I want his legacy to be how our program continues to be right there as a top program. So obviously, there’s a responsibility and you feel a pride.”

And now, San Antonio awaits.

Kevin Willard back in Big East as former Seton Hall coach leaves Maryland for Villanova

Kevin Willard is expected to leave Maryland for Villanova, bringing former Seton Hall coach back to Big East. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

Kevin Willard is on his way back to the Big East.

The embattled Maryland head coach, who spent 12 seasons at Seton Hall before taking over in College Park three years ago, has accepted the head coaching vacancy at Villanova. Jeff Ermann of InsideMDSports was first to report the news shortly after midnight Sunday morning. CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein also reported that Willard is expected to hold a team meeting Sunday morning to inform his Maryland players of his departure.

The move comes just three days after the Terrapins’ season came to a close at the hands of Florida in the West regional semifinals, just the second time Maryland had reached the Sweet 16 since winning its lone national championship in 2002. In three years as Mark Turgeon’s successor, Willard posted a 65-39 record, guiding the Terps to the NCAA Tournament twice in that span.

Willard became an inadvertent source of controversy during Maryland’s run through March, with his candor surrounding the program’s resources, as well as the apparent departure of outgoing athletic director Damon Evans, making headlines. The coach addressed the situation again Thursday after the loss to Florida, but reiterated he had—at that point—neither accepted nor declined an offer from Villanova.

“I don’t know what I’m doing, I’ll just be honest with you,” Willard said Thursday. “I haven’t talked to my agent, I haven’t talked to my wife. I made a promise to this team that I was just going to focus on this team, and that’s all I’ve done. So I haven’t talked to anybody. I have an agent, I’m sure he’s talking to people—because that’s what agents like to do—but I don’t know. Right now, my biggest concerns in life right now, I don’t know who my boss is going to be, and I don’t know who we’re going to hire.”

“In today’s day and age, that worries me a little bit. I’m just being honest. So this is going to be a family decision. I love College Park, I love Maryland, but when you’re at this point in your career and you’re looking at things, I have to take everything into consideration moving forward. But I have not even talked to anybody, so I don’t know what I’m doing. I have no idea. I understand fans are going to be pissed because I’m in limbo and this and that. I get it. I’m kind of pissed, to be honest with you, because I didn’t expect to be in this situation.”

Willard’s comments were eerily similar to those he made in his exodus from Seton Hall in 2022, when he coached the Pirates in an NCAA Tournament loss to TCU amid rumors that he was leaving for Maryland. In his postgame press conference that night, he seemingly foreshadowed Seton Hall’s eventual hire of Shaheen Holloway—his former assistant who was in the midst of an Elite 8 run at Saint Peter’s—by saying it “would be the happiest thing to happen to me.” Willard struck a lighter tone when wrapping up his recently concluded season, but offered no further foresight on his own future.

“I really enjoyed coaching this basketball team,” he said. “From the time they stepped on campus in June, they’ve just been so much fun to coach. It was just a whole lot of fun.”

Villanova opens its postseason on Tuesday in Las Vegas, when it takes on Colorado in the opening round of the inaugural College Basketball Crown. The Wildcats will be led by interim coach Mike Nardi, who was promoted following the firing of Kyle Neptune on March 15 after three seasons at the helm.