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Eric Musselman embracing USC culture, gleaning valuable insight from Lincoln Riley

FaceProfileby: Thomas Goldkamp10/03/24

Eric Mussleman made one of the biggest coaching moves this offseason, going from Arkansas to USC to replace Andy Enfield in a move that triggered a chain reaction in the sport.

Ultimately, Musselman’s move helped pave the way for John Calipari to move from Kentucky to Arkansas.

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But now that the dust has settled a bit, Musselman is getting accustomed to his new digs. He’s also had a chance to pick the brain of another elite coach, one right on his own campus. That’s Lincoln Riley, who is in charge of the Trojans football program.

“Yeah, went to a couple practices,” Eric Musselman said. “Actually got some good drills that we’ve kind of taken some quarterback, wide receiver drills that he used and have used with a five-shot drill that they had a five passing drill with their quarterbacks. But there’s nothing like USC sideline pregame.”

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Musselman has always been an enthusiastic school spirit guy. He’s famously known for taking his shirt off and heading into the crowd after Arkansas won a key NCAA Tournament game.

He hopes to bring that same kind of energy to the USC sidelines, embracing the rich history and tradition of the school.

Of course, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing.

“The only thing that’s been troublesome a little bit is we keep having recruits come in on weekends when our football team’s playing on the road,” Eric Musselman said. “And I keep wanting to go on a road football game, I’m like stop with the recruiting stuff so we can go on a road football game and experience Big Ten football.”

Of course, Musselman isn’t one to legitimately set aside recruiting. As much as he loves having school spirit, he also loves winning.

And he’s done a whole lot of that as a college basketball coach.

In nine years as a college head coach, Eric Musselman has gone 221-93 (.704), reaching the NCAA Tournament six times, including four runs to the Sweet 16 and two Elite Eight appearances. He’ll look to build on that with the Trojans starting this fall.