MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
In all likelihood they will be the final games of the season for the fourth-seeded Maryland men’s and women’s basketball teams when the men take on top-seeded Florida on Thursday and the women take on top-seeded and defending national champion South Carolina on Friday.
And, oh, yeah, also Kevin Willard’s final game as the Maryland head coach. But maybe not. Maybe. Probably. Guess we’ll find out.
As for the games, both the Maryland men and women have been so resilient this season, you hate to count either one of them out, as the Florida men are 6.5-point favorites, while South Carolina is listed as a 17.5-point favorite in the women’s game.
The Florida men are so good. In fact, many of us have them winning the title, which may be wishful thinking given Duke’s recent run. The Gators showed in their second-round 77-75 win over eighth-seeded Connecticut they can be vulnerable, but you can’t help but wonder if Maryland has the depth to expose those vulnerabilities for the second straight game.
The Maryland women have battled injuries (and in most cases lost) all season long and, frankly, it’s a mid-size miracle they were able to reach the Sweet 16, as witnessed in their remarkable 111-108 double-overtime victory over Alabama in the second round.
The transfer portal has been kind to both Maryland teams this season. Brenda Frese and her coaching staff, that includes former Northern Garrett all-time great Kaitlynn Fratz, have done one of their very best jobs this year, which is a statement in itself considering Frese has led the Terps to 12 Sweet 16s and a national championship.
Willard, on the other hand, admitted he learned his lesson last year (at least he’s admitting something) when he relied too much on highly-rated incoming freshman recruits and failed to turn to the portal for more experience and anybody – anybody – who could shoot from the outside.
That was all corrected this season, as Maryland’s three starting guards alone came to College Park through the portal and have been instrumental in getting the Terps one game away from the Elite Eight.
Freshman Derik Queen has been rather instrumental as well, becoming a March Madness sensation Sunday night with his game-winning running banker against Colorado State (not to mention his “I’m from Baltimore, that’s why”); and, of course, senior Julian Reese (who’s also from Baltimore) has been the rock of this team, finishing his four-year Maryland career in style.
Fact: Florida (32-4) is better than any team Maryland has played this season. Will the Terps be up to the challenge? There’s no reason to believe they won’t be, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to win. Maryland (27-8) hasn’t backed down from anyone, and hasn’t lost a game by more than six points, with the last four coming on last-second shots.
I wouldn’t count Maryland out; nor would I bet against Florida.
That said, the issue hanging over the Maryland men is whether or not this will be Willard’s last stand of a three-year stay as the coach. It all boiled over last week when Willard not so indirectly called out former athletic director Damon Evans (who left the team in Seattle and Maryland for good not long after the Willard presser to become the AD at SMU) for insufficient prioritization and financial support for the basketball program.
The question that prompted the Willard call-out concerned the reporting that he was engaged in serious negotiations with Villanova for that head coaching position. He offered what Ben Bradlee used to say was a non-denial denial, and has offered a couple more since then, with yesterday’s being the absolute topper.
However, on yesterday’s Kevin Sheehan Show, he said, “As of right now, I’m staying. Everything that my concerns have been about the job – and that was my whole point of the press conference – was that I want to make this program the best. When you have an opportunity to do it, you have to take advantage of it.”
Repeat: “As of right now,” which is no longer right now.
According to Jeff Ermann, of Inside Maryland Sports, Maryland has “agreed to all of Willard’s demands, which he has said don’t involve a big raise or unrealistic demands. He said the same in his interview with Sheehan. Willard has been negotiating with Brian Ullmann, who’s the athletic department’s communications director, and school president Darryll Pines. Maryland’s administration believes it’s done what he wants and was ‘optimistic’ about getting a deal done earlier this week. I’m told he wants between $4.5 and $5 million in revenue-sharing money, more investment in NIL and a few other things to improve his ability to recruit.”
Pines announced on Tuesday the university would be making “an exciting announcement” on Wednesday, and that exciting announcement, posted by Pines on X, was that Kermit the Frog (yes, Kermit the Frog) would be back on campus to address the Maryland graduating class as a 2025 Commencement speaker.
While it’s true Kermit was created on the Maryland campus by 1960 Maryland graduate Jim Henson, legendary creator of the Muppets, this did not appear to be the exciting announcement most of the Maryland supporters were looking for based on their not-so-excited responses on X.
Let’s just say, if Kevin Willard is not coaching Maryland next year, President Pines, whether it is his fault or not, will be hearing about and living with Kermit the Frog for a very long time.
And let’s not forget: Villanova still does not have a coach and, four days after the latest transfer portal opened for business, seems quite content to wait to hire one when the desired target/applicant is available to accept it.
This has been an exciting and thoroughly enjoyable team and season for Maryland basketball, despite the four buzzer-beating losses, and regardless of tonight’s outcome. But what if it’s allowed to be remembered as the Kermit the Frog game?
Then that would fall on Maryland for the long-crumbling infrastructure of its athletic department. It would also fall big-time on Willard, who still has four years left on his contract.
Initially, I kind of liked it, but the more we’ve seen of his “leveraging” this week, the less appealing it has become and, unless he’s a helluva poker player, it just doesn’t seem that he wants to be at Maryland.
Best Maryland basketball season in a long time. Best season by a Kevin Willard team ever. Makes you think that one might have had something to do with the other? Villanova apparently thinks so about one.
We’ll find out soon enough, but it’s all been so distasteful. For all parties involved
Other than Kermit, of course. Let’s not drag his good name into this.
Oh, wait. The president of the university already did.
Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT