The Big East’s obituary has been written multiple times over the years. ESPN, after attempting to hammer an ice pick through the conference’s neck, pronounced it dead with a documentary containing the word “requiem.”

After the self-acclaimed Worldwide Leader tossed dirt on the casket, the Big East rose like Lazarus and won four national titles in men’s basketball.

The latest predictions of its demise come at a time when the eruption of free agency in college sports has enabled basketball programs at schools flush with power-football cash to hoard top players as never before. This March, all 16 teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament's second weekend came from football conferences. No Big East squads, no mid-majors.

Into this headwind plows Kevin Willard, who has abandoned Maryland for Villanova after his third season in College Park resulted in a second-place Big Ten finish and Sweet 16 run.

Since the Big East downsized in 2013, Willard is the first coach to make this kind of move in a fully voluntary fashion. The flow chart over that time is consistent.

∎ Chris Holtmann got fired at Ohio State, ended up at DePaul.

∎ Thad Matta got fired at Ohio State, resurfaced at Butler.

∎ Richard Pitino, once fired from Minnesota, rehabbed his reputation at New Mexico before landing at Xavier.

That’s not counting at Rick Pitino, who was fired from Louisville for conduct reasons – he was still winning big there – and eventually circled back to his Big East roots with St. John’s.

So what is Willard doing? He’s not exactly known as a rolling stone – he stayed at Seton Hall for 12 years, notably passing up a chance to coach in the ACC with Virginia Tech in 2019.

Chances are, some personal reasons to come into play. His family was happily rooted in the northeast for 15 years, and maybe the move to the mid-Atlantic didn’t take all that well. After Maryland’s loss to Florida in Thursday’s West Regional semifinals, he emphasized a “family decision” would inform his next move.

Beyond that, Willard made it clear that he questioned Maryland’s commitment to funding basketball at the highest level as football and hoops programs throughout high-major world engage in a tug-of-war over revenue sharing.

Schools soon will be allowed to share up to $20.5 million in revenue annually with athletes. Internal athletic department fights over how that pie gets split between football and men’s basketball (and in in some cases, women’s basketball and other sports as well) are unfolding right now.

At Big Ten schools, football is getting the lion’s share. At Big East schools like Villanova, men’s basketball gets most of the pie. And while the overall pie is smaller at colleges without football TV-contract money, it’s almost certain that at Villanova Willard will have more revenue-share money than most of his counterparts at football schools.

Throw in first-rate facilities, a tradition of success, a wealthy alumni base and prosperous fan collective – not to mention a region with good Italian food and proximity to acceptable bagels – and the prospect of not cage-fighting a football coach over a pile of cash each year seems attractive.

To Maryland fans slamming Willard for plotting his departure during the NCAA Tournament: How did you feel about it three years ago, when he did the same while at Seton Hall? It’s a fast-moving, cutthroat profession, and there is no bloodless way for a well-regarded coach to leap from one high-major to another. Giving two weeks’ notice is not a thing in this world.

And if Willard was candid to a fault about Maryland’s identity crisis, well, maybe the Terps should take his advice and figure out what they want to be.

Villanova certainly knows.

Which leads us to the moral of the story: Maybe the Big East is not as buried as everyone thinks.

Again.

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at .