In a candid radio interview with “The Team980,” Maryland head coach Kevin Willard unleashed his frustrations about the current state of college basketball. Willard didn’t mince words when discussing transfer portal demands dropping a bombshell claim saying, “Kids asking for $2-3 million right now.”
The Financial Arms Race in College Hoops
With the NCAA transfer portal for the 2025 cycle opening on March 17 and set to close on April 22, Willard’s radio outburst captured the chaotic landscape facing college programs.
“The money has exploded crazy because we have no guardrails. We have no rules. It’s been as badly of a rule implemented as ever. And agents are taking advantage of it” Willard’s said.
“You have to pay freshmen. They haven’t scored a bucket for you. They’re unproven, as good as they are,” Willard lamented during the sports radio broadcast highlighting the financial pressures facing programs like Maryland.
“The transfer portal is crazy. There are kids asking for $2-3 million right now. The money has exploded crazy because we have no guardrails. We have no rules. It’s been as badly of a rule implemented as ever. And agents are taking advantage of it.”
— Kevin Willard on @team980
— John Fanta (@John_Fanta) March 25, 2025
The combination of NIL deals and the removal of the one-year sit-out rule has created what many coaches see as an unsustainable environment.
Willard’s strategy has shifted dramatically in response. He now refuses to take more than three freshmen per year, reasoning that unproven players are costly investments with diminishing returns.
“If they do contribute, they’re likely to move on for a bigger paycheck anyway,” he explained, preferring instead to “comb the portal list for proven value.”
Maryland’s Uncertain Future
The context surrounding Willard’s comments includes significant changes at Maryland with athletic director Damon Evans leaving for SMU. On March 22, 2025, SMU announced they had hired Evans, who had been at Maryland since 2014 and served as AD since 2018.
Willard himself faces an uncertain future at Maryland, with Villanova reportedly interested in bringing him back to the Big East following their firing of Kyle Neptune.
After leading the Terrapins to a second-place finish in the Big Ten and a No. 4 seed in the tournament, Willard’s remarks reflected the broader institutional challenges facing college basketball.
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Meanwhile, other programs face similar challenges, some coaches like Rutgers’ Greg Schiano have opted for a developmental approach focused on high school recruiting and retention considering it “cheaper to retain a player that is happy than to recruit a stranger of similar ability.”
As over 700 players entered the transfer portal within its first week of opening, Willard’s candid radio assessment underscores college basketball’s new reality: a financial battleground where mid-tier programs struggle against wealthier schools offering massive NIL packages. All while coaches and players alike seek stability in an increasingly unstable landscape.
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