Ralph Willard
Ralph Willard (born March 28, 1946)
Teams coached: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, Pittsburgh Panthers, Holy Cross Crusaders
Western Kentucky record: 81-42 (.659)
Pittsburgh record: 63-82 (.434)
Holy Cross record: 192-117 (.621)
Overall record: 336-241 (.582)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 6 (1993, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 1 (1993)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 3 (1992, 1997, 2005)
- Patriot League Regular Season Champion: 4 (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007)
- Sun Belt Regular Season Champion: 1 (1994)
- Patriot League Tournament Champion: 4 (2001, 2002, 2003, 2007)
- Sun Belt Tournament Champion: 1 (1993)
Awards:
- Patriot League Coach of the Year: 3 (2001, 2005, 2007)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2010-2011 | Louisville (DBO) |
| 2009-2010 | Louisville (assoc. HC) |
| 1999-2009 | Holy Cross |
| 1994-1999 | Pittsburgh |
| 1990-1994 | Western Kentucky |
| 1989-1990 | Kentucky (assoc. HC) |
| 1987-1989 | New York Knicks (asst) |
| 1986-1987 | Syracuse (asst) |
| 1984-1986 | Hofstra (asst) |
Ralph Willard Facts
- Ralph Daniel Willard
- Born March 28, 1946
- Hometown: Oyster Bay, New York
- Alma Mater: College of the Holy Cross (BA, 1967)
- Played basketball at Holy Cross under head coaches Frank Oftring and Jack Donohue
- Spent 13 seasons coaching at his alma mater, St. Dominic HS (Oyster Bay, NY); won a NY State Championship in 1980
- First collegiate jobs were as an assistant to Dick Berg at Hofstra and to Jim Boeheim at Syracuse; his one year at Cuse was 1986-87, when the Orange were NCAA Runners-Up
- Willard worked under Rick Pitino for the first time from 1987-89 as an assistant with the New York Knicks; he then followed Pitino to Kentucky in 1989 to spend one season as his associate head coach
- Hired as the Western Kentucky head coach in 1990, winning 81 games in four seasons and appearing in 2 NCAA Tournaments; the 1993 Hilltoppers made a surprise run to the Sweet Sixteen after beating 2-seed Seton Hall
- Spent five seasons as the Pittsburgh head coach, going 63-82 with just one postseason appearance (1997 NIT)
- Returned to his alma mater, Holy Cross, in 1999 and spent the next ten seasons as the Crusaders’ head coach
- Went 192-117, won 4x Patriot League titles and 4x Patriot League Tournaments and was named conference COY 3x
- Diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2005, which he was able to recover from; underwent open heart surgery in 2008, which he also recovered from and was able to return to coaching
- Spent one year on Pitino‘s staff at Louisville as associate head coach and then one more as Director of Basketball Ops
- After two years in a consulting role at Holy Cross, Willard became a scout for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder
- Forced to take a medical leave in 2015 after signing another contract with the team
- Inducted into the Holy Cross Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 2021 in recognition of his years playing and coaching there
- Along with his wife, Dorothy, has one daughter and two sons
- His son, Kevin Willard, is currently the head coach at Maryland
Ralph Willard Coaching Tree
- Orlando Antigua (South Florida)
- Jim Christian (Canisius, Boston College, Ohio, TCU, Kent State)
- Tom Crean (Georgia, Indiana, Marquette)
- Mark Daigneault (Oklahoma City Thunder, Oklahoma City Blue)
- Darrin Horn (Northern Kentucky, South Carolina, Western Kentucky)
- Bobby Jones (Saint Francis PA)
- Sean Miller (Arizona, Xavier)
- Kevin Nickelberry (Howard, Hampton)
- Kevin Willard (Maryland, Seton Hall, Iona)