The Maryland men's basketball team suffered a devastating defeat in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday evening as they fell to the No. 1 seed Florida Gators 87-71.
While beating Florida was going to be a tall task, the Terrapins simply did not look like themselves in the Sweet 16 matchup. Freshman phenom Derik Queen did his part, but Maryland never led in the second half and the wheels fell off the wagon in the final 10 minutes.
Part of this underperformance could be explained by the rumors that were swirling around the team's head coach just hours before tipoff.
Kevin Willard couldn’t provide clarity on future after Sweet 16 loss
Kevin Willard has been the head coach of the Maryland Terrapins for three seasons, but he has already been listed as the top option for Villanova after they fired their coach.
He spoke about his future with Maryland after the team's loss to Florida on Thursday, and it was not exactly the vote of confidence that Terrapins fans wanted.
"I don't know what I'm doing," said Willard.
Some could facetiously argue that this quote may have been from one of the team huddles on Thursday as the game slipped away from them, but I digress. The reality is that Willard is not indicating any long-term allegiance to the program and wants to keep his options open.
He had a successful tenure at Seton Hall but left his post as the head men's basketball coach there in a similar fashion. He told the media that he had not made up his mind, but behind the scenes, he had orchestrated a deal with Maryland.
In the same way that he arrived in College Park, it appears that he will be leaving. By creating distrust with the fan base, losing before the Elite 8, and having no major championships to show for it.