SMU has announced the hiring of Damon Evans as the new athletic director, replacing Rick Hart. Evans, who previously served as the athletic director at Georgia and at Maryland since 2014, will now take on the role at SMU. This move comes as SMU recently hired a new president, Jay Hartzell, and there were rumors of an attempt to hire Texas athletics director Chris Del Conte. Interestingly, the timing of Evans’ hiring coincides with speculation about Villanova’s interest in Maryland’s basketball coach, Kevin Willard.
Willard, who led Maryland to a successful season in the Big Ten and secured a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament, spoke about Evans likely joining SMU and the challenges of NIL demands. In other coaching changes, Villanova fired Kyle Neptune after three seasons and not making an NCAA Tournament berth following Jay Wright’s successful tenure with two national championships. Maryland is set to play Grand Canyon in the NCAA Tournament with speculation swirling around Willard’s future amid Villanova’s interest.
These developments in the college basketball landscape add another layer of excitement and anticipation as the coaching carousel continues to turn. Stay tuned for more updates on coaching changes and tournament outcomes as the season progresses.
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