Eric Musselman reveals John Daly shared coaching drills to improve Arkansas free throw shooting
A former Arkansas golfer turned pro, John Daly’s commitment to their success in sports goes directly to messaging coach Eric Musselman. The eccentric golf star is one of the most notable former Arkansas athletes and biggest supporters — and his relationship with the men’s basketball coach paved the way for an extremely strange practice drill suggestion.
According to Musselman after they secured a spot in their third-straight Sweet Sixteen, Daly has been extremely focused on the Razorbacks players making their free throws. The extent of his concern led to him suggesting they practice their short game to see if the skills could translate to focus at the charity stripe.
Eric Musselman shares coaching advice from John Daly
Musselman revealed the new bit of info after he was asked about the team’s free throw shooting during their upset of one-seeded and defending champions Kansas — where the team shot 21-for-26 from the free throw line. The Arkansas coach admitted he was already getting calls and texts from Daly, and promised that he’d call him back before the team got on their flight home.
“Really good,” said Muss about his upcoming message to Daly. “He tried calling me, got a couple texts already. Before we hit the plane I’ll try to call John. You know, he’s been texting me even drills. Like he wanted our guys to get a putter out and hit a ball into a cup. We haven’t tried it yet, luckily we’ve been making foul shots. But I know the state of Arkansas is on fire right now and I know John Daly’s pretty pumped up too.”
The win was the second-straight year that Arkansas played bracket buster by eliminating a tournament one-seed, having done the same to Gonzaga last season. It also wasn’t the first time that Musselman shared details of his relationship with Daly, as he shared that they had first talked about free throws after their first round win over Illinois.
“He was very happy with our free throw shooting. That’s not a joke,” said Musselman after that win. “I really do get several texts, and sometimes we do converse, believe it or not, late night on our lack of free throw shooting. I sent him — just so everybody knows, I did send him several of your guys’ Tweets, and I think he felt good about that, too, that we acknowledged him in a press conference.”