BALTIMORE — March 8, 2020, served as a joyous day for Maryland men’s basketball. The Terps defeated Michigan at Xfinity Center to claim a share of the Big Ten Conference regular-season title and head into the NCAA Tournament with high expectations.
Suddenly, the coronavirus pandemic swept across the world, shutting down sporting events including March Madness. That left plenty of “what ifs” for the program, including whether coach Mark Turgeon could have led the Terps to a deep tournament run, perhaps as far as the Final Four. Instead, he stepped down less than two years later, just nine games into his 11th season.
Maryland athletic director Damon Evans doesn’t dwell on the “what ifs.” He’s focused on the present, which means hiring a coach who can energize the program and its fan base after the team went 15-17 overall (7-14 in the Big Ten) and completed its first losing season since 1993.
When Evans was asked what this hire means for his career, he didn’t shy away from its significance.
“I’m not going to run away from it,” he said. “I know what this hiring means for this institution, and I embrace the opportunity to be in the position to make the hire. I relish the opportunity.”
With the NCAA Tournament in full swing, Evans said the coaching search will begin to pick up in earnest. Evans understands things could change, depending on how the prospective candidates fare in the tournament, but he is confident the school can land a new coach within the next two to three weeks.
“If the person I end up liking is in the Final Four, that changes the story,” he said. “But if you look between now and the Final Four, which is about two to three weeks away, we’re moving forward accordingly and have a coach in that time frame.”
Turgeon went 226-116 with the Terps, guiding them to five NCAA Tournament appearances. Even though Turgeon had a competitive team every year, some felt he underachieved. Maryland only reached the Sweet 16 once under Turgeon, who faced criticism for missing out on key local players in the recruiting trail.
Turgeon left eight months after signing a three-year, $17 million contract extension. Assistant Danny Manning took over in an interim role, and Maryland struggled to find consistency throughout the season, starting conference play 3-11 before winning four of its last six regular-season games.
The Terps were knocked out in the second round of the Big Ten tournament, capping one of the worst seasons in decades. However, Evans doesn’t think Maryland’s turbulent season requires a rebuild.
“I do believe that basketball is the type of program that you can turn around in a quicker manner than some sports, say football,” Evans said. “But also, I want to make sure that we’re set up in a way that we’re building for the long haul, not just the short term. It’s important that we have long-term, sustained success here at the University of Maryland.”
Evans said he is looking for a coach who can be the “CEO” of the program. He wants someone who embraces the transfer portal and student-athletes benefiting financially from their name, image and likeness. But more importantly, Evans wants to find someone who can return Maryland to national prominence.
During Maryland’s win over then-No. 22 Ohio State on Feb. 27, the same day the Terps’ 2002 national title team was honored, fans were reminded of the glory days when the program was at the top of the college basketball world 20 years ago.
When former coach Gary Williams stepped onto the court during a timeout, raising his fist into the air, Xfinity Center roared. It was clear then the Terps needed to hire someone who connects with a fan base that has consistently ranked among the Top 25 in attendance over the past decade but has not come close to filling Xfinity Center in recent years.
“That’s what a good coach does,” Williams said. “He will get the crowd back and get people excited about Maryland basketball. When there’s a coaching change, there’s a need for an infusion of enthusiasm.”
Evans wants a coach who can resonate with the community but wants to make sure the candidate can develop players while competing for a national championship.
Since Turgeon left, Seton Hall’s Kevin Willard, Notre Dame’s Mike Brey, Providence’s Ed Cooley and Southern California’s Andy Enfield — who just signed a six-year contract extension with the Trojans — have been discussed as potential candidates.
After Seton Hall lost to TCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night, Willard addressed the rumors about his future at the New Jersey school.
“I have an agent who I haven’t talked to yet,” Willard said. ”I don’t know who he’s talking to. I have absolutely no idea. But when I get home I’ll talk to my agent and discuss things with my agent.”
When Willard was asked when he thinks everything will be resolved, he said “I have no idea.”
“I’ve had three different agents in the last month,” Willard said. “So my original agent I’ve had for 12 years went to TV broadcasting. I’ll be honest with you. If I’m not here next year, I’d love, if [Saint Peter’s coach] Shaheen Holloway is here, that would be the happiest thing to happen to me.”
Brey, who has guided the Fighting Irish to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018, would be an intriguing candidate. He’s from Bethesda, Md., and graduated from DeMatha, a perennial power in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference that produces some of the best high school talent in the country.
Despite Notre Dame’s lack of success in recent years, Brey has a strong track record, guiding the Fighting Irish to 13 NCAA Tournament berths, three trips to the Sweet 16, two Elite Eight appearances and the 2015 ACC Championship since taking over the program in 2000. Notre Dame won its First Four game then upset No. 6 seed Alabama Friday afternoon to advance to the second round.
When asked if Maryland would consider candidates outside college basketball, such as NBA assistants, Evans said the school is casting a wide net.
“That’s how you start any search, whatever position you’re looking for,” he said. “We’re going to look around the country and find the person that we believe will meet the expectations that we have here at Maryland. That’s Big Ten and national championships.”
The question remains how expansive that net Is, and whether it would land on coaches who have committed NCAA violations.
Iona coach Rick Pitino, who was fired from Louisville in 2017 after the FBI opened an investigation into fraud and corruption in college basketball, was considered a potential candidate for the Terps before denouncing the rumors on Twitter, saying, “it will not be me.”
Evans said integrity is important to the school, and they are looking into everyone’s background before making a decision that’s appropriate for the university. Lawyer and former Maryland star Len Elmore said the program should avoid candidates with a scandalous past.
“I think those are essentially poisonous to programs for the long term,” said Elmore, now a college basketball analyst.
For this coaching search, Evans enlisted help from the Parker Executive Search, a search firm based in Atlanta that the former University of Georgia athletic director has great familiarity with. Evans said he’s “confident that they will help us in the right way,” and the same firm contributed to the hiring of football coach Mike Locksley.
Evans said he has also solicited feedback from other individuals, including Williams, and has talked to school president Darryll Pines “quite a bit.”
“Our president is someone who understands sports,” Evans said. “He’s someone who will be fully involved and make sure that he’s informed of what I’m doing on a day-to-day basis.”
As Evans continues to find the program’s 10th basketball coach, he views play style and nonconference scheduling as key factors. He understands the importance of a balanced schedule, but wouldn’t mind having national powers like Kentucky, Kansas or UCLA play at the Xfinity Center.
After Maryland got knocked out of the second round in its last two NCAA Tournament appearances, Evans said he will evaluate a candidates’ postseason track record.
“The postseason is not easy,” Evans said. “There are a lot of really good coaches out there that have made the postseason and may only have one win. But you got to take a look at where they are, you got to take a look at their recruiting ranks. When you go to a place like Maryland with the resources that we have available, with the fertile recruiting ground that we have available, some of those coaches might have a better record in the tournament just because of that.”
Evans views local recruiting as a necessity, as he wants the coach to have a good understanding of the area. If the coach doesn’t, Evans said “he needs to have people on his staff who are.”
“I think nationally, the DMV is a great area for basketball,” Williams added. “I think the new coach will come in with the idea that he wants to get involved in the area.”
Maryland is considered a top-20 program, with its only negative being the lack of a practice facility. The school is the only one in the Big Ten without a dedicated practice facility for both its men’s and women’s teams. Since the athletic department unveiled its plans for a Basketball Performance Center in 2019, Evans said they raised $37 million out of the $40 million needed to begin construction.
“I got to finish raising that money,” Evans said. “My goal is to have that money in hand by the time we hire a new coach.”
The school has invested heavily in football recently, building the Jones-Hill House — the total price-tag of the project, which was financed by private donations and the state, came to $149.3 million — and a new video board inside Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium. Even though some, if not most, might consider Maryland a basketball school, Elmore isn’t surprised by the recent investments in football.
“Football in the Big Ten is king, and quite honestly, college football from a revenue standpoint is king in power conferences because they drive the budget,” Elmore said.
Evans said the Basketball Performance Center is vital for competing against other Power Five schools, saying “your resources have to match the expectations that you have as a program.”
Former Virginia Tech coach and current ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg said a practice facility provides a better way to develop players while promoting the program. From a recruiting standpoint, Greenberg said a practice facility is a “visual inducement.”
“You never know what is going to be the difference in a young person making a decision,” he explained. “You want to eliminate the negatives. Not having a practice facility is surely negative.”
For Evans, it’s just a matter of finding the right coach that not only meshes with the fan base but returns the program to be a national title contender.
“I want our fans to know I appreciate the expectations,” he said. “I want them because we want to return Maryland basketball to the glory days, and we will bust our butts doing it.”
