USC names Arkansas' Eric Musselman as next men's basketball coach
The USC Trojans have officially hired now-former Arkansas Razorbacks coach Eric Musselman as their new men’s basketball coach. The Trojans announced the hire in a release shortly after new broke on social media.
An opening was created for the Trojans when Andy Enfield decided to take his talents to the SMU Mustangs earlier this offseason. Now, Musselman will take over USC, and look to build the program into a true contender as they move into the Big Ten for the 2024-2025 campaign.
It’s a homecoming for Musselman to an extent, as he’s no stranger to the West Coast. He played college basketball at San Diego and was the head coach of both the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings during his career.
That was before he got into college coaching at Arizona State from 2012-14, and after a stint as LSU’s associate head coach, Musselman took over as the head coach at Nevada in 2015.
On the whole, between Nevada and Arkansas, Musselman has a 221-93 overall record to go with six NCAA Tournament appearances – including two Sweet Sixteens and two Elite Eights. He also won three consecutive Mountain West championships with the Wolf Pack, taking the team to the 2018 Sweet Sixteen.
As for USC, the Trojans had 15-18 overall record under Enfield this year, including an 8-12 mark in Pac-12 play, to miss out on the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans are preparing to leave for the Big Ten next season after a groundbreaking round of conference realignment, so a new era is upon them.
After his time with the Razorbacks, Musselman will surely be missed in Fayetteville, as he brought Arkansas a myriad of tremendous memories over his time with the program. Where the SEC program turns from here remains to be seen, but it’s a huge blow nonetheless.
USC needed to make a big move with Andy Enfield leaving, and Eric Musselman could be considered a major boon for the program and their standing. As the Trojans look to be major players in the world of college basketball, his addition will go a long way for the program.
On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this article.