Maryland basketball has NIL and the future of Kevin Willard at the forefront. Both front and center ahead of the Terrapins' Sweet 16 game in March Madness.

The Terps' NIL situation came to light before facing Colorado State. Willard himself acknowledged Maryland's NIL state is low. And those words came before Derik Queen hit the epic buzzer beater to beat the Rams Sunday.

Willard didn't double down on his NIL comments, however, when addressing reporters Wednesday. He chose to deliver a “masterclass in deflection” and instead discussed one of the top scorers his team must prepare for: Walter Clayton Jr. of Florida. Who's one of the sharpshooters on the Gators' side. Willard added he hopes to address Maryland's rebounding.

But that wasn't his only deflection. Willard got asked about the athletic director situation on campus, as Damon Evans is heading off to SMU. Willard, though, reminded the media “we're playing Florida” and calling it a big matchup for his team.

Willard clearly didn't want to talk about the university's NIL issues. But he walks into the round of 16 with one more dilemma hovering above him: Willard's Maryland future.

Evans' departure stalled his contract talks with Maryland. Willard is now hearing his name linked to one high-profile job still open.

The Maryland coach surfaced as a strong contender for Villanova — which opened its position March 15 before the NCAA Tournament. Willard sounded off on the rumored interest on The Kevin Sheehan Show.

“As of right now, I'm staying,” he said. “Everything that my concerns have been about the job—and that was my whole point of the press conference—was that I want to make this program the best. When you have an opportunity to do it, you have to take advantage of it.”

Per Willard's words, he's still facing a nebulous future at the Big Ten university. But he sounds more locked in on Florida while trying to deflect the uncertainty involving Maryland's NIL dilemma and his own coaching status.