Career At Holy Cross
Willard began his tenure at Holy Cross with the goal of turning around a struggling program. The school had only won 22 games in its three previous seasons combined. In only his second season, Willard managed to lead the Crusaders to both the regular season and tournament titles. As a result, he was named the Coach of the Year for the Patriot League.
Willard’s success at Holy Cross continued as he led the school to two more conference titles and subsequent trips to the NCAA tournament in 2002 and 2003. This was the first time in the history of the Patriot League that a school had achieved this.
In 2005, Holy Cross was invited to the National Invitation Tournament where Willard led the team to the second round with a victory over the University of Notre Dame. This marked the first time that a team from the Patriot League had won a game in a post-season tournament. Willard was honored for the second time as the Patriot League coach of the year. He also received national recognition when he was named as a finalist for the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year award.
The following year Willard led Holy Cross back to the NCAA Tournament with another Patriot League conference title. This once again earned him coach of the year honors for the Patriot League.
Willard has had tremendous success in building Holy Cross into a successful program. During his tenure as the school’s head coach, the Crusaders averaged more than 19 victories per season and advanced to the conference tournament championship game 6 times.
Read more about this topic: Ralph Willard
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