Ralph Willard has been a friend of Coach Rick Pitino for a number of years. Willard joined as a member of the staff of the New York Knicks. When Pitino left to become the head coach of the University of Kentucky, Willard joined him as the associate head coach in 1989. The very next year he moved on to become the head man at Western Kentucky.
In 1999 Willard began his tenure at Holy Cross with the goal of turning around his alma maters program. The Crusaders won just 22 games in the three previous seasons. In only his second season, Willard managed to lead the Crusaders to to the NCAA tourney.
Willard let Holy Cross back to the tournament in 2002 and 2003. While at Holy Cross Willard had 20+ wins in 5 seasons and had a above .500 record all but twice.
Today Rick Pitino has once again been reunited with Willard. “I’ve been pursuing Ralph for the last 10 years,” Pitino said.
That is a pretty intense compliment coming straight from one of the best head man in college basketball today.
As a Pitino fan, and thus a Louisville fan, this makes me think. Why would a head coach step down from a successful gig at his alma mater to become an assistant? Is Pitino on his way out? Pitino might be grooming Willard to take over when he moves on.
Ralph Willard Bio [Go Holy Cross]
Holy Cross coach Willard resigns to become assistant at Louisville [CBS Sports]
