Kyle Tarp came to Villanova in June 2026 to join the Villanova staff with a distinguished resume as one of the top basketball performance coaches in the nation. Tarp previously served at the University of Maryland, where he worked with Head Coach Kevin Willard from 2022-25.
“It’s great to bring Kyle on board here at Villanova,” said Willard. “He is an elite performance coach whose knowledge and experience will benefit our players’ development.”
Tarp’s tenure at Maryland included seven NCAA Tournament appearances in his final 10 seasons, including the 2024-25 campaign which saw the Terrapins record 27 victories and advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. He was also a part of Maryland’s 2020 Big Ten championship squad. During his run at Maryland Tarp worked with a lengthy list of players who went on to the National Basketball Association, including Derik Queen, Kevin Huerter, Bruno Fernando, Alex Len, Jalen Smith and Aaron Wiggins.
Before his stint at Maryland, Tarp served as a basketball performance intern at the University of Texas from 2008-2010. Tarp assisted with all aspects of strength and conditioning for both the men and women’s basketball teams at Texas while concurrently completing his Masters Degree in Sports Science and Nutrition. During his time in Austin, Tarp also held graduate faculty teaching positions in the Kinesiology, Physical Education and Biology departments along with working as a Performance Specialist at renowned private training facility Train 4 the Game.
A native of Salinas, Calif., Tarp graduated Summa Cum Laude earning a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Biology from the University of California, Davis, in 2006. At UC Davis, Tarp competed for the University’s football team. He also received a department citation for outstanding research achievements in the field of Exercise Biology in 2006.
Tarp is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He is also a certified Level-1 Sports Performance Coach from United States Weightlifting Association, CPT by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and is a certified Functional Movement Screen Specialist. He also performs coursework in Applied Functional Sciences.
Tarp and his wife Rachel are the parents of daughter, Avery, and son, Trenton.
