Former Pitt point guard and current Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard is under consideration for the vacant Pitt men’s basketball heading coaching position, sources tell Pittsburgh Sports Now.
Willard, 42, transferred to Pitt in 1994 to play for his father, Ralph Willard, who was then the Pitt head coach.
Since his playing days, the younger Willard has coached as an assistant under Rick Pitino with the Boston Celtics and at Louisville. He was then the head coach at Iona from 2007 to 2010, compiling a 45-49 record. In 2010, he took the head coaching position at Seton Hall, where he has a 150-113 record overall in eight seasons.
The Pirates have made the NCAA Tournament each of the last three seasons, and made it to the second round this year as a No. 8 seed, beating NC State in the first round before losing to No. 1 Kansas, 83-79 on Saturday.
Ralph Willard was fired at Pitt in 1999 with a 63-82 record and no NCAA Tournament appearances in five seasons. His tenure with the Panthers had been seen as something of a low-water mark for the program, with the lack of on-the-court success compounded by a slew of off-the-court incidents.
It’s unknown how deeply Kevin Willard would be interested in returning to his alma mater and if he’d take the job, if offered. He made $1.56 million at Seton Hall in 2016-17, according to USA Today.
Pitt finished 8-24 in 2017-18 under Kevin Stallings, the worst year for the team since 1976-77, when they went 6-21 under Tim Grgurich. Stallings was fired by athletic director Heather Lyke on Mar. 8.
