Villanova men’s basketball’s 89-57 loss on Saturday, Feb. 28 at No. 15 St. John’s brought back memories for Wildcats coach Kevin Willard, who previously worked under Red Storm coach Rick Pitino as an assistant.
They weren’t fond ones, either.
Following Villanova’s 32-point loss at Madison Square Garden in New York, Willard was asked what Pitino was like at practice immediately following a lopsided defeat. He didn’t hold back with his answer.
“I’m not [expletive] you — I don’t have hair because of this guy,” said Willard, who is bald. “I had a full set of hair when I started working for him. It’s the most miserable experience in life. You fear for your life every day. Everyone laughs when I say that, but you think you’re going to get fired. It’s miserable.”
Willard started his coaching career by working under Pitino as an assistant with the Boston Celtics from 1997-2001 and then at Louisville from 2001-07. Willard’s father, Ralph, was also an assistant for Pitino, with the New York Knicks from 1987-89, at Kentucky from 1989-90 and at Louisville from 2009-11.
Though the younger Willard hasn’t worked for Pitino since leaving Louisville to become the head coach at Iona in 2007, he imagines his old boss has only changed so much.
“As he’s gotten older, he’s probably become more of a cranky old [expletive] than he was when I worked for him, but you literally fear for your life,” Willard said. “He walks into the facility at 6:30 and you’ve been there since 5:30 thinking you have everything right and he comes in and asks you the one question you don’t know. He’s that intense. He always has been. He’s got the most energy of any coach I’ve ever been around. I think that’s why he’s got 900 wins and national championships because he does it better and more intense than anybody.”
Willard is in his first season at Villanova, where he has the Wildcats at 22-7 and in position to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2022.
The 50-year-old Willard was previously the head coach at Maryland, Seton Hall and Iona. He has a career head coaching record of 357-256 and has led his teams to the NCAA tournament in seven of the previous nine seasons in which the event was held.
So, for all the misery he endured working for Pitino, at least some of the lessons from the legendary coach apparently stayed with him.