WILLARD Kevin
With March Madness about to tip off, Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard takes a timeout for some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: Describe the ideal Kevin Willard basketball player. A: I say this all the time — a kid who really, truly loves the game ... who wants to work at the game as much as I want to put the work in with him. That is my truly ideal player. Nothing else really matters to me besides I want a kid who wants to get better and who wants to put the work in on the court.
Q: If you could build the perfect player, what physical traits would you take from which player? A: I’d take quickness from Allen Iverson — he was the quickest person I’ve ever seen. ... I’d take Michael Jordan’s hands and arms, ’cause his length was great. ... And I’d take LeBron James’ body, just ’cause physically I think he’s one of the most dominant players to ever grace the game.
Q: If you could pick the brain of one basketball coach in history, who would you pick? A: Because I was around him for a little bit when I was with the Celtics: Red Auerbach. He was always the sharpest man in the room. When you thought he was taking a nap and just smoking on a cigar, he would come back from something someone said 20 minutes before, and be so articulate about the game and be so simple about the game, that as a young kid I just remember sitting there going, “Oh my God! It’s Red Auerbach!” It was an amazing experience just to hear the way he thought about the game, personnel.
Q: Was Seton Hall’s 22-point loss to Marquette in the first round of the 2015 Big East tournament the low point? A: That was the low point. I remember walking around the city the next day — we were on 49th and Lex and I think I ended up all the way down in the Meatpacking District. I didn’t even realize I had walked all the way that far. I actually met my brother that night for dinner right by his house. He kind of just looked at me, he goes, “Hey, you’re either gonna get up or you’re gonna get out. What are you gonna do?” I said, “I really believe in this team. I think we can be really good.” He said, “All right, well then get up.” And that was it. I got up and went home and we started preparing for the next year.
Q: Why was that the low point? A: It was a low point because I hated seeing how my kids felt, and I knew it was gonna be a struggle to kind of get them to believe again. But I knew I had a great group.
Q: How did you get them to believe again? A: We did a ceremonial burial of the Marquette boxscore. The boxscore’s buried somewhere in the back parking spot [of the rec center]. We did that in the summer.
Q: Where did you get that idea from? A: We used to put media guides when I was at Louisville [as an assistant 2001-07] in a freezer to freeze the other team, kind of psychological freeze ’em. The other team’s media guide in a freezerfreezer, just sasay, “We’re gonna freeze ’em today.” The first time we did it we won, so we kept doing it. So I was like, “You know what? Let’s bury last season.” I took the boxscore and I went out there and I got a little hand shovel (chuckle), I buried it, and I said, “Guys, we’re done. We know where we can get to. Last year’s over. Let’s just focus on the future and let’s focus on what we know we can accomplish.” It was very liberating.
Q: You don’t put media guides in freezers now? A: I always thought that was a Louisville tradition, so I didn’t want to steal [it].
Q: Who are some leaders you admire? A: The best leader I’ve been around is probably my father [Ralph Willard, former Knicks assistant and head coach at Western Kentucky, Pittsburgh and Holy Cross]. I played for him, and obviously I’ve watched him coach. I always loved the way his demeanor was with the kids, the loyalty he showed to not only his players but to his staff and to the institutions he was at.
Q: What was it like being ballboy for the Knicks? A: It’s one of the greatest experiences a young kid could have. Being around Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, all the legends and greats, and getting as a young kid the run around Madison Square Garden, and think, “One day I’m gonna play here.”
Q: A Pitino anecdote with the Knicks. A: I think it was the playoffs. I got to the Garden early to rebound for John Paxson because I was a big John Paxson fan, I don’t know why I was, and obviously Michael Jordan. I want to tell my father that I just rebounded for John Paxson, and I run right through the locker room and I run right into Coach Pitino. And I remember I looked at him and he looked at me, and I was like a stepson to him almost, and he kind of goes: “Why don’t you rebound for some of our guys!?” And I went: “OK!” and I turned around and I ran right back out the door (smile), and I stood out on Madison Square Garden floor at like center court — the Knicks weren’t there yet — and I just stood there and I just waited. I think I had to go to the bathroom, it didn’t matter. I didn’t leave the court ’cause I was so intimidated.
Q: How heartening was it when he defended you after Delaware pulled its head coaching offer in 2006 after learning you had a DUI two years earlier? A: I was in his office and he just came up to me, he said, “Kev, you got two things. You stand up and you become a better person and you move on and make right, or you sit there and you complain about what happened. You gotta handle your actions.” I remember sitting there looking at him, and I said, “You’re right.” His being so positive with me and on me really just kind of made me realize, “All right, this is just another stepping stone in my life, you either take a step down or you take a step up.” He was the reason I took a step forward.
Q: You were 5 when your father coached St. Dominic HS (L.I.) to the 1980 state championship. A: I remember that on the bus ride back. I was in the back seat, and I think Timmy Kempton and Jimmy Christian were in the back seat, and my dad was not gonna stop and get McDonald’s for the team. And Timmy Kempton and Jim Christian kept bugging me to go up to the front, ’cause my dad had to drive the bus back in those days, and please ask my father to stop at McDonald’s. So I remember walking up, and all the guys were all happy and I said, “Dad, can we stop at McDonald’s?” When we pulled into McDonald’s, the whole team erupted and went crazy and they carried me into McDonald’s.
Q: What is your best memory from your time coaching Iona (2007-10)? A: It’s ironic: It would be our first win, against Delaware. I think we were 0-6 going into that game, we just got smoked by North Carolina by like 40. We were down and we came back and won at the buzzer, and I just remember that’s when I kind of got what being a head coach is about, when I saw how happy my players were. Q: What are you thinking heading into this Big East tournament? A: Playing the Johnnies in the Garden right now is not something I want to do, the way they’re playing in the Garden. ... ’Nova’s great. ... It’s the wild, wild West, I think anybody can win it.