Kevin Willard jokes about going all in if he gets a chance to meet Villanova alum Pope Leo XIV: "I'll eat 12 meals a day"
Newly minted Villanova Wildcats coach Kevin Willard has been working on a new culture for the program this offseason. On March 29, the Wildcats announced that the now former Maryland Terrapins tactitian will replace coach Kyle Neptune for the 2025-26 campaign .
During an interview with college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein on Wednesday, Willard was asked if he gets the chance to meet Pope Leo XIV, the recently canonized 255th Pope of the Catholic Church. Willard jokingly responded to Rothstein about going all in.
"Oh, no. I'll eat 12 meals a day if I get to meet the Pope. It's so cool. I'm excited. I think it's not only great for Villanova. I think it's great for the American Church to have a Pope that was born in America. I just think it's going to do a lot for religion in this country. So, I think it's really cool for Villanova, but it's really cool for America in general," Willard said. (0:08)
Pope Leo XIV, whose real name is Robert Prevost, studied at the University of Villanova in 1977, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. Meanwhile, Willard joins a Wildcats program that finished with a 21-15 record, 11-9 during Big East conference play earlier this year.
Kevin Willard on being the new coach for the Villanova Wildcats
In the aforementioned interview with college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein, coach Kevin Willard was asked about the annual expectations for the Villanova Wildcats.
Rothstein laid out the run under legendary Villanova tactician Jay Wright, and Willard said that the focus will remain on winning championships.
"I think this is a place where winning championships is what it's all about. This is what our fanbase expects, it's what I expect, our former players, it's what Jay expects. I mean, he really expects us to be a championship-level program," Willard explained. (0:35)
"Can you do it year in and year out nowadays with the way it is, and can you get guys to stay five years and have runs like Kris Jenkins, Josh Hart, and all those guys did? It's probably going to be much more difficult and it's probably not realistic. ... It's going to be more difficult, but our expectations are to win a championship," Willard concluded.
Under Wright, Villanova won the 2016 and 2018 NCAA national championships, with the first one coming following a dramatic buzzer-beating game-winner by Kris Jenkins.