Cup of Coffee

By Ronald N. Guy Jr.

27.  16.  9.  As in 27 wins and a Sweet Sixteen berth – both milestones last reached nine years ago.  That is what the Maryland men’s basketball team accomplished this season.  And what a fun team it was.  The ingredient list was diverse: star freshman Derik Queen; Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Rodney Rice and Selton Miguel, three huge portal additions; and Julian Reese, the rarest of college athletes – a senior who spent all four years at Maryland.  The season featured buzzer beaters – both for and against the Terps – gritty conference battles, a cool nickname (“The Crab Five”, an ode to those five aforementioned starters, Michigan’s “Fab Five” from the early 1990s and our state’s fabulous crustacean) and an epic bank shot by Queen to send the Terps to the Sweet Sixteen.

So, all is good in College Park, then.  Ahhh…if it was that easy it wouldn’t be life or major college sports.  There’s a fly in the ointment.  A black spot on the sun.  Pineapple on pizza.  Fruit in beer.  Pick your favorite idiom that best expresses a flaw in a masterpiece.

Head coach Kevin Willard isn’t happy.  He doesn’t like not knowing who will be Maryland’s athletic director and his boss (AD Damon Evans recently departed for SMU).  And he wants more NIL money for the basketball program.  More resources and a clear chain of command.  These are fair asks. 

The issue is Willard used the NCAA Tournament platform as his Festivus, an “airing of grievances” to the extreme pleasure of Frank Costanza.  A day before his team was play its opening round game in the crown jewel of the sport, a moment that can create memories for a lifetime, and while he was still very much employed, at a rate of $4M a year, Willard chose the podium in front of a national audience to register his complaints against the university.  His complaints.  His asks.  While the Villanova job, one he’s certainly interested in, sat quietly open.  There are no coincidences, as the saying goes, or boundaries for seeking personal gain, apparently. 

Since that initial bombshell press conference, Willard has done little to dispel the rumors of his departure.  In the same breath that he has repeated his issues with Maryland, he’s pledged his love for the university and his focus on his players and this moment.  It’s a lot of yada, yada, yada, to use another Seinfeld reference.  The punch is so full of, well, not punch now that it’s hard to imagine Willard returning to Maryland.  So be it.  This is the game now.

College basketball games are still amazing.  The athleticism is off the charts.  The tournament remains a fantastic experience.  But for fans - the ones with long history, lots of memories, psychological scars and incredible highs with their schools, the ones who bleed the colors and wear the gear and genuinely hurt after losses – this product feels inorganic. 

Willard doesn’t love Maryland.  He loved the opportunity when he got it and the accompanying salary.  Do the players love Maryland?  Maybe Reese.  Queen, a local kid?  Hard to say, but when asked about listening to his coach, he quipped that Willard’s the guy paying him.  The rest?  Did they choose Maryland or did Maryland simply offer the best financial and basketball situation? 

The competition still matters.  The score still matters.  Coaches coach hard; players play hard.  The score still matters - you can’t fake it at this level and win 27 games.  And the overall experience still matters.  But the colors and the name on the front of the jersey don’t matter; in most places everyone involved in these programs is there for a cup of coffee and personal gain.  Everyone is on a one-year contract.

A lot of suits made a lot of money off college sports for a long time.  Players sharing in the revenue they create seems right; massive coaching salaries do too.  But the fan experience doesn’t have the same depth anymore.  There’s no marination, no team building, only an annual frenzy catering to a powerful force: self-interest.  Which makes college sports a reflection of the modern world it exists within.