College Hoops

What They Said: Maryland Men’s Basketball NCAA Tournament Press Conferences

What They Said: Maryland Men's Basketball NCAA Tournament Press Conferences


NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: First Round – West Virginia vs Maryland

Wednesday, March 15, 2023 • Birmingham, Alabama, USA • Legacy Arena • Press Conferences

Head Coach Kevin Willard

Q. So Kevin, basic, just start with what you guys have to do, what are the nerves for guys who haven’t played in this tournament before?

COACH WILLARD: I think everyone is really excited to be here. For the guys that haven’t played in it, I think it’s a great experience. For us against West Virginia, we have to be really good in transition defense and really good on weak-side rebounding. Those are two areas that they excel at.

Q. West Virginia, Maryland haven’t played often in recent years. Obviously you have a history. It was a while ago. Your thoughts of coaching against Huggs when you were at Seton Hall way back when and even before that as a player at Pitt.

COACH WILLARD: I have great respect for the fan base at West Virginia. Playing at Pitt was always a big game with such a passionate fan base. I said this before, I think coach Huggins, there’s a reason he’s a Hall of Famer. He hasn’t stuck with the same style year in and year out. He’s adapted to his team extremely really well. They are always physical, they always rebound well, they always defend well, but this is a basketball team that’s playing so much quicker than what he did back when I played against him eight, nine years ago when I was at Seton Hall. I have always admired Coach Huggins in the way he adapts offensively and defensively with his team.

Q. It’s been an endless conversation around the Big Ten in recent years about translating from league play to tournament play and how things are officiated and all these things. I imagine you are well aware. In terms of your first time making that transition, you know, what is your line of thinking on that of what translates, I guess?

COACH WILLARD: I don’t know. I got in trouble earlier this year because I made some comments that I probably shouldn’t have made.

Q. No one is watching. You’re good.

COACH WILLARD: Right. I can tell you now going through a whole year of the Big Ten schedule, I can see a little bit — I think there’s a couple negatives I found that I think hurts us in the NCAA…

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