USC hires Eric Musselman as coach: Trojans poach Arkansas boss in shocking move to replace Andy Enfield
The Muss Buss is packing up and heading for Los Angeles on the heels of a down year with the Razorbacks
Matt Norlander (CBSSports.com) — USC is set to hire Arkansas men’s head basketball coach Eric Musselman to the same position, sources confirm to CBS Sports. Musselman interviewed for the job Wednesday with Trojans athletic director Jennifer Cohen.
The Trojans poaching Musselman from Arkansas is a sport-shaking move. Once upon a time, the idea of a coach leaving the hoops hotbed of Arkansas for USC was borderline unthinkable, but these are different times. Circumstances matter a lot as well. Musselman was heavily swayed by the location, in addition to a fresh start after a rocky 2023-24 season that ended with a whimper. The opportunity presented itself once Andy Enfield decided to leave USC after 11 seasons to start anew at SMU.
Musselman, 59, spent the past five seasons in Fayetteville, Arkansas, guiding the Razorbacks to Elite Eight runs in 2021 and 2022 as well as a Sweet 16 appearance in 2023. When Arkansas made the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament in 2021, it marked the first time in 25 years the Hogs had earned a Sweet 16 berth. He had restored something meaningful there. But, this past season was the low point; despite being ranked in the preseason, Musselman’s team severely underachieved and wound up 16-17, his only sub-.500 run with the program.
Over the past five years, Musselman went 111-59 and had four seasons between 20-28 wins. His career mark in Division I is 221-93; Musselman spent four seasons at Nevada before taking the Arkansas job in 2019.
Musselman’s name had been loosely attached to other openings in the past two years, but his time a move came to fruition. He’s a journeyman coach.
Musselman has coached in the NBA (Golden State from 2002-04, Sacramento in 2006-07), the G League, overseas, semi-pro ball and spent many years as an NBA and D-I assistant.
He’s held more than a dozen jobs in more than three decades of coaching. Moving from one spot to another is what he’s done his entire career. Musselman’s longest time at one location was in the Continental Basketball Association when he coached the Rapid City Thrillers from 1991-97 before turning 30. Arkansas was the second-longest tenure in his career.
At USC, Musselman will face significantly less pressure at a program with significantly less prestige.
The Trojans haven’t won a regular-season conference championship since 1985. By moving into the 18-team Big Ten, the chances of that don’t increase. Plus, the program plays in the far shadows of nearly a dozen other college and professional teams that are bigger draws across greater Los Angeles.
It also remains to be seen if one of college basketball’s most famous players, Bronny James, will opt to return for a sophomore season.
A deal with Musselman was negotiable for USC in part because his buyout dropped to $1 million earlier this week, which kept his price tag manageable. Musselman was most recently making $4.2 million at Arkansas. Sources connected to USC’s search indicated to CBS Sports that Cohen would be willing to be competitive in that salary range in order to pack up the Muss Bus for the West Coast.
cbssports.com
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UMass transfer Cohen follows Musselman, flips commitment from Arkansas basketball to USC Former Massachusetts forward/center Joshua Cohen, who committed to Arkansas basketball out of the NCAA transfer portal March 29, has flipped his pledge to USC. Arkansas HC Eric Musselman was hired by USC for its coaching vacancy on Thursday. Cohen (6-10, 220 pounds) also considered Notre Dame, Xavier and Penn State before initially picking Arkansas. He originally entered the NCAA transfer portal on March 18. On3.com rates him the No. 34 overall transfer in the portal. He was the lone transfer committed to the Razorbacks. Cohen played one… Read more »
It is like Jen Cohen asks and she receives. What a mark she is going to leave on USC, I hope she sticks around for decades and builds a dynasty. This is a serious hire and it shows she is going for the best she can get to come to USC.
I am excited about this hire. Muss did a great job at Nevada, and got Arkansas to heights not seen since Nolan Richardson.And he coached in the NBA too. Plus he knows how to work the portal, which we desperately need now.And I might add that a high quality transfer from UMASS, that had committed to Arkansas, is supposed to be coming to SC to play with Muss.
So glad SMU took Andy off our hands. I am not sure what they were thinking.
I’d like to know if Jen Cohen may have encouraged Andy Enfield to look elsewhere, knowing that Eric Musselman, likely a step up from Enfield, had been itching to return to Calif. He played hoops at USD from ’83-87, and also coached in the NBA for Golden State and Sacramento, where he still has strong ties. Is it possible that Cohen still wanted Enfield, but SMU just somehow targeted him and took him off USC’s hands? Or did Enfield’s agent let the word out that he was desperately looking to move on to a new place with a new 2024… Read more »
I kinda agree with your take…I mean, did AE even say good-by and thank the fan base?
I’m gonna check and see if I can find anything. If not, that’s really bad style, and would be hard for me to believe.
So far, this is all I’ve found from AE, though Jen Cohen graciously thanked him for his 11 years of leadership and service to USC. “I am so excited to join the SMU family,” Andy Enfield said in a statement. “It is an incredible time for the university as we enter the ACC. The investments SMU has made in athletics, the support and alignment from leadership — President (R. Gerald) Turner, (Athletic Director) Rick Hart, (SMU Board Chair) David Miller and others — as well as the passion of the SMU fan base and community made this an incredibly attractive… Read more »
How will Musselman fit at USC? He “burns really hot.” The Athletic — Eric Musselman breathed life and fire into a formerly dormant Arkansas program, reaching the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament three straight years before a disappointing season in 2023-24. USC basketball operates mostly in the shadows, which is understandable in the saturated L.A. market. Musselman can at least draw attention with his fondness for social media (some would say self) promotion. At the same time, he also burns really hot, which might be an interesting fit in laid-back Southern California. USC’s roster has already begun a… Read more »
USC Trojans Heisman QB Caleb Williams and girlfriend Valery Orellana during Pac-12 Media Day at Resorts World Las Vegas | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jen Cohen on new Trojan HBC Eric Musselman Cohen — “Eric displays heart, boldness, resiliency and everything that it means to be a Trojan. He inspires togetherness and will help build and grow the program’s connectivity within the Trojan community. As we move to the Big Ten and enter a new chapter for USC Men’s Basketball, there is no better fit than Eric Musselman to launch our program to new heights.” Musselman takes over a program that went 15-18 overall and tied for ninth in the Pac-12 at 8-12. The roster will get a major makeover. Leading scorer Boogie Ellis… Read more »
Eric Musselman will be formally introduced to the USC Family and media on Friday, April 5, 10:30 am, in the Centofante Hall of Fame at Galen Center.
Bears, USC QB Caleb Williams meet ahead of 2024 NFL Draft Kevin Fishbain (The Athletic) — The Chicago Bears hosted USC QB Caleb Williams earlier this week as a top-30 visit leading up to the NFL Draft later this month. Williams dined with Bears staff Tuesday at Sophia Steak in Lake Forest, Ill. and conducted his visit Wednesday. The visit should come as no surprise given the Bears are primed to select Williams with the No. 1 pick on April 25. Chicago traded 2021 first-round pick and starter Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this offseason. Fields joined veteran Russell Wilson in Pittsburgh for an… Read more »
Allen, what’s that I see over the horizon? Is that the USC Trojans, a basketball school? USC, Jen Cohen and Carol Folt can walk and chew gum. We just might become a football and a basketball school! 😉
I knew I could count on you GT to immediately proclaim that USC has suddenly become a peripherally powerful “basketball school” in one single day after nearly 120 years of futility! Cracks me up. 😉 😉 Congrats on your big day! I’m also a joiner here, and I believe Jennifer Cohen has done as well as she possibly could with USC’s distinctly unlegendary basketball product. Hope also prevails that USC men’s hoops will start drawing more than 3,500 per game in attendance. ARK has been drawing 19,000 plus, so maybe we’ll start getting some spillover. I will take credit for… Read more »
My key words, over the horizon just might become a basketball school. We will see if they can recapture the Bob Boyd era without UCLA spoiling the party. It does show USC is serious about men’s basketball.
My point exactly. Bob Boyd last coached at USC 45 years ago. Next thing you know, I’ll be reprinting photos of Paul Westphal, the only Trojan player John Wooden ever really wanted … and the leader of that memorable 24-2 1971 team that still couldn’t beat UCLA. Many Trojans wanted Westphal to coach USC after his pro-playing career ended. But it wasn’t to be. 1985–1986 Southwestern Baptist Bible 1986–1988 Grand Canyon 1988–1992 Phoenix Suns (asst) 1992–1995 Phoenix Suns 1998–2000 Seattle SuperSonics 2001–2006 Pepperdine 2007–2008 Dallas Mavericks (asst) 2009–2012 Sacramento Kings 2014–2016 Brooklyn Nets (asst) So here you go, the glory days in… Read more »