Is there any reason they would? Mid major coaches who accomplish something seem like hotter prospects than coaches in major conferences whose teams are kind of ok most years. On the plus side, his teams make the tournament. On the minus side, they suck once they get there.
He at least won a Big East conference tourney, while someone like Turge had a top 5 finish most years but would lose immediately because he sucked so much. There's a great chart that a MD fan made of Willard's W/Ls vs. KenPom top 50 teams and Turge's and Williard has like 2x the number of games and a ton more wins. He's beaten more good teams at Seton Hall than Turge ever did at MD, with less talent to boot. I think time will tell if he can get over the hump but there's something to be said for a coach who's proven he can coach up guys but has never broken through; eventually you get the right mix and just...do it. Purdue and Painter is a good example right now.
What people fail to understand is that it wasn't Mark Turgeon's lack of a deep run that pissed off MD fans. That was part of it, but everyone understands that losses in March can be fluky. It was that he never beat good teams, especially on the road, and he never showed any passion for winning. He publicly complained when College Gameday came to CP. He stopped recruiting for 3 years. He never made runs in the Big Ten tournament, and every year his teams got worse in March. The problem was that there was never any hope he could coach up a team to a run. Everyone knew it by 2020 - even though that team was great, it still choked away a 3-game lead for a Big Ten title on the final stretch. We all knew we weren't winning the big ten title. We all knew Izzo, Painter, Gard would coach circles around him. It was the lack of any hope that killed him.
Getting away from a certified loser as head coach and getting someone who actually enjoys the game of basketball (Turge said he never watched other games) is a massive upgrade for just the energy of the program. Kansas Mark in his last 2 years did 0 recruiting, 0 in-game coaching (asst. Matt Brady did that) and was basically just cashing checks to go to his beach house. Having someone who actually gives a freak is so refreshing.
