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A coach’s success when joining a new school can be the result of many different factors: bringing in a great staff, inheriting a talented roster, being a great coach, having a lot of luck, etc. Coach Ralph Willard won 20 games at Western Kentucky in 1994 and led his team to the NCAA tourney before leaving to become the new head coach at Pitt. The Hilltoppers hired Coach Matt Kilcullen away from Jacksonville, where he went 34-50 during his 3-year tenure, but it worked out very well for everyone during year #1. Kilcullen won 27 games that year, had an OT win over Michigan in the NCAA tourney, and came very close to making the Sweet 16 before a 5-PT loss to Kansas. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Kilcullen about being named conference COY and winning a game in the NCAA tourney. Today marks the 26th anniversary of the Hilltoppers winning the Sun Belt tourney title on March 5, 1995.
You were an assistant coach at Notre Dame in the late 1980s under Digger Phelps: what was the most important thing you ever learned from him? He taught me how to be organized in all phases of coaching, which is the biggest thing I took from him.
What are your memories of the 1987 NCAA tourney (David Rivers scored 24 PTS and made a FT with 4 seconds left in a 1-PT win over TCU after a controversial foul call against future Horned Frog coach Jamie Dixon)? I remember the big jump shot Scott Hicks made right in front of our bench to put us ahead: when he hit that shot we just knew that we were going to win. It was a very hard fought contest: in regard to the foul on Coach Dixon, it was the way the calls were going all game long.
You became head coach at Western Kentucky in 1994 and went 27-4 in your very 1st year: how were you able to come in and be so successful so quickly? Coach Ralph Willard left the program with 7 seniors who were used to winning so we just kept the same system and made some minor adjustments.
You were named conference COY that year after winning the award the previous season at Jacksonville: what did it mean to you to win such outstanding honors? We had good players on both teams who played great together and were responsible for that: I am very grateful to them.
What are your memories of the 1995 conference tourney (your team had back-to-back 3-PT wins over Texas-Pan American and Little Rock to win the title)? I remember both of our opponents missing shots on the last possession of each game that could have meant losses for us. Both of those teams played us well so we were fortunate to win both games.
Take me through the 1995 NCAA tourney:
Michael Fraliex made an off-balance 3-PT shot with 9.1 seconds left in regulation en route to a 6-PT OT win over Michigan: where does Fraliex’s shot rank among the most clutch that you have ever seen, and how did it feel to beat the last of the Wolverines’ “Fab 5”? We were down by 14 PTS with about 11 minutes left but always felt that we could win because of our depth and full court pressure. I was on Mike all game long to make a shot and as he had all yearlong he made the shot when it counted: he was a heck of a shooter. We took over in OT as we had fresher legs.
The Jayhawks made 22-25 FT in the 2nd half of a 5-PT win by Kansas: do you think that the refs called it fairly, and what was it like to coach against Roy Williams in March? I thought that we shot horribly…but there was a block/charge call with 1 minute left that was called a block but should have been a charge on Jacque Vaughn. That call was horrible: if it was called a charge then it would have given us a chance, but it did not happen. I looked at Roy and he just shrugged his shoulders! Roy is one of the classiest acts in college basketball and it was an honor to coach against him. By the way, that call was included in the official’s review seminar the next season as a play that should have been called a charge.
In 1999 you became head coach at North Florida: why did you decided to take the job, and did you think at the time that you end up staying there for an entire decade? I took the job because we still had a house in Jacksonville from when I coached at JU from 1991-1994. The Jacksonville area is great to live in and we thought that we could help the program be successful: I was only the 3rd basketball coach in school history but did think I would stay because we loved living there.
In 2005 the Ospreys made the leap to D-1: what is the biggest difference between D-2 and D-1? The competitiveness in recruiting and the fact that all kids think they can play D-1 and will make D-2 schools wait for them to decide.
In 2009 you retired from coaching and became an administrator at several schools: how does being an administrator compare to being a coach? I felt it was time to do something else even though it was tough for the 1st 6 months to be away from the game that I was a part of for most of my life. Administration is a good fit for me because I like all sports and can help them all through fundraising instead of just coaching 1 team. My goal was to eventually become an AD and you have to be able to raise money to do that.
When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? That I worked hard at every place I was at and helped young people become successful both on and off the court.
