WASHINGTON — In the world of college athletics, it’s fairly rare to see spectators who aren’t fans of the home or away team. College sports are identity-driven; the draw is a tangible connection with the school one grew up around or got their degree from.
But flashes of Maryland red appeared throughout the crowd at Capital One Arena Saturday as Georgetown took on Villanova in a Big East men’s basketball game. Those fans were all there for one reason.
“It’s a hate fest for our former head coach, Kevin
Willard, who left us with nothing,” Maryland fan Brandon Crawford admitted.
Willard officially left Maryland to become Villanova’s head coach on March 30, ending his three-year tenure in College Park. Villanova’s game against Georgetown was Willard’s first public return to the area.
The Terps fans there to greet him were a less-than-pleasant surprise.
“They wasted a Saturday. I don’t know what the f*** they were doing,” Willard said of the Maryland fans after the game. “They got nothing better to do on a Saturday than come look at my bald a**, I don’t know what they’re doing.”
In his final season, Willard assembled one of Maryland’s best teams since the program’s 2002 national championship. Led by hometown star Derik Queen, the Terps entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4-seed — their highest ranking since 2015.
The coach declined a contract extension before the tournament, though. Rumors swirled that Villanova was interested in Willard as Maryland prepared to face Florida in the Sweet 16. Having formerly been an assistant at Louisville and a head coach at Seton Hall, some believed he would favor a return to the Big East for a program with two national titles in the last decade.
Media appearances did little to quell those rumors. On March 20, Willard criticized the program’s commitment with revenue sharing and NIL money; Willard’s claim he was staying “as of right now” five days later was not confidence-inspiring.
“The biggest storyline in college basketball wasn’t Derik Queen making the incredible shot, the Crab Five,” Maryland fan Brendan Sachs said. “It was about Kevin Willard, whether he would stay or go throughout the tournament.”
The Terps fell to the eventual national champion Gators. Just 51 hours after the horn sounded on their season, Willard was gone. Within weeks, every player and staff member departed Maryland as well.
Willard’s departure was seen as a betrayal. While Terps fans at Capital One Arena on Saturday remained generally positive about head coach Buzz Williams’ ability to complete a rebuild next year, the sense remains that Willard set Maryland back.
“He’s a snake. He lied,” Maryland fan Jeremy Jablonover said. “It’s fine if he goes to Villanova, it’s a great job, it’s a great program. But the way he did it, he made it about himself.”
Social media groups choreographed the display of loathing. One Maryland sports Reddit community encouraged “invading Capital One Arena”. A Maryland community on X coordinated the purchase of over a dozen seats in section 102, directly behind Villanova’s bench.
Some Terps fans had no idea of the plans and just showed up to stand in solidarity with their team.
“We don’t have a bloodlust,” Maryland fan Matt Spear said. “We’re just out here now, it’s in good fun.”
Willard was not the only person to trade College Park for Philadelphia. Former Terps Braden Pierce and Malachi Palmer contributed 29 solid minutes for Villanova Saturday.
While Pierce committing a foul early did draw some extra cheers, neither they nor one-time Maryland commit Christian Jeffrey seemed to bear the brunt of the crowd’s vitriol. It was all saved for the coach.
“Kevin Willard is a bad guy, we’re here to remind him of that,” Jablonover said.
Some fans in red hurled expletives. More stuck to the traditional boos and cries of “you suck.” Others got creative.
“He has a lot of pieces of gum,” Sachs said, gesturing to the three different flavors of Trident sitting next to Villanova’s replay monitors. “‘Kevin, get one more piece of gum, it’ll be okay’ — that’s kind of one [jeer] that we’re workshopping here.”
At times, Maryland fans appeared to be some of the most engaged in the arena. They celebrated every missed field goal or turnover from Villanova as fervently as the Hoyas’ student section celebrated a Georgetown made basket.
But the noise was limited in its impact. The sections that red shirts hoped to invade were for Villanova supporters. Given it was their team that featured in the game, it’s no surprise they heavily outnumbered Maryland fans.
Villanova guard Acaden Lewis — a Sidwell Friends School graduate and Washington D.C. native — admitted that he expected more Terps to show up.
The ones who did put their money where their mouth was, though. Some Terps fans, including a pair that purchased tickets in early October, paid up to $100 to attend a Villanova game in Capital One Arena.
But even they believed the experience was worth the cost. Not a single one regretted it, even as Villanova and Willard emerged with an 80-73 victory.
“I just love college basketball, and I like supporting my team,” Maryland fan John Mirarchi said. “And sometimes that means letting other people know they hurt us.”
