BASKETBALL

Morning Buzz: Has USC Done Its Homework?

With Eric Musselman interviewing for the USC job, there was a lot of buzz in college basketball circles over how much homework Jen Cohen and Co. did beforehand?

Musselman’s definitely been successful with two Elite Eight appearances at Arkansas before this season’s 16-17 record. And he has just a $1 million buyout, a real plus. That type of success will be welcomed by USC fans.

But coaches were talking Tuesday about the atmosphere that exists under Musselman.

“There’s a lot of turnover on his coaching staff because people don’t like working for him,” one coach said.

Jay Morris, who was an assistant at USC since 2021, spent only one season at Nevada with Musselman before resigning or being forced out. You think anyone at USC talked to Morris? Eyebrows were raised last year when Arkansas assistant Gus Argenal took a pay cut to become the coach at Cal State San Bernardino.

“He’s a control freak and he usually wants out after a few years,” another coach said. “Things can be very volatile.”

“I really doubt the A.D. (Cohen) knows much about the background,” an AAU coach said. “Does it seem like Arkansas cares if he leaves?

“Southern California has an amazing Class of 2026 recruiting class. Will he be able to recruit any of those elite players? I have my doubts.”

If Musselman is a success none of this matters. It will be Cohen’s hire and she can deal with him. A lot of coaches will wish her luck.

51 thoughts on “Morning Buzz: Has USC Done Its Homework?”

    1. Good one, George, I won’t compete in the humor department so insead I insert a great debater Adlai Stevenson quote- “An independent is a guy who wants to take the politics out of politics”– That’s us GT!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I’m okay with that one, George & John. I’m not okay with the “independents” who want to take God out of religion.

        #e.g.,RichardDawkins

        Liked by 2 people

  3. Apparently posting links is now verboten, so here’s a story from an Arkansas site about Musselamn. USC can and should do better than this guy.

    When last season ended in a loss to UConn, Arkansas coach Eric Musselman was left with time to reflect on what kept his Razorbacks from winning it all.

    The plan the year before had been to bring in a collection of elite freshman talent and mold it into an unstoppable force. Obviously, there were some bumps in the road.

    It took a while for players like Anthony Black and Jordan Walsh to mature and grow into strong SEC caliber players. Meanwhile, Nick Smith, Joseph Pinion, Derrian Ford and Barry Dunning never reached that level for varying reasons.

    So, looking back over his past success and seeing players like JD Notae, Stanley Umude, Justin Smith Trey Wade, Au’Diese Toney and Ricky Council, it was easy for the man known as the Great Importer to envision putting together a super team free of the inherent problems that come with relying heavily on freshmen.

    Musselman cut bait with most of his remaining freshmen and recruited as few high school players as possible, putting his entire focus on ultra-experience transfers with the idea he could simply tweak their skills and approach like he has so successfully done with transfers in the past. The amalgamation would pop out the other side a ready-built national championship team.

    His plan yielded nine seniors, most of whom are in their last year of eligibility, plus a pair of non-seniors who began the year projected as NBA draft picks. Being a bit incognizant, Musselman was only capable of seeing a group of men coming together for one last possible run at an NCAA championship and a shot at improving their NBA prospects.

    However, he was blinded to his lack of leverage. You see, Musselman coaches in a hard, old-school manner. He has an in your face, high demand demeanor that those 40+ wouldn’t think a whole lot about. However, that’s not a world familiar to most modern athletes.

    If conducted in the wrong environment, it will cause players to completely shut down. Freshmen are ideal for this approach because college basketball is new for them, They know it’s going to be a drastic change, so they process the approach and demand as such.

    There also has to be a core of returners capable of starting who have truly reaped the rewards of taking hard coaching who also have years left. Not only can they provide a culture that lets other players know it’s all worth it after an especially tough day of practice or criticism, but they have incentive to push forward also.

    Two of the biggest cards in the Musselman deck is his propensity for sending players packing at season’s end, plus the perceived influence he can wield over NIL if he wants. A player with another year remaining isn’t going to want to be forced into the transfer portal. Instead, he wants Musselman dropping his name in praise as often as possible in press conferences because each time it happens, the next season’s NIL value goes up.

    That leaves room for a handful of transfers who are at the end of their eligibility to buy in via peer pressure as the majority of their fellow Razorbacks cope with the coaching style and slowly mold into an elite force through the fire. Even if seeing their teammates tough it out and buy in isn’t enough, Musselman now has the leverage of simply leaving that player on the bench as Arkansas ticks off win after win.

    That’s simply not the case this season. When it came time for Musselman to break the new crop of players so they could be molded into the national championship machine so many thought they could become, he didn’t have the leverage he needed to do it.

    There are seven transfers, most of whom were expected to be counted upon heavily, who came from vastly different cultures where they were the untouchable player. In all, there are 11 Razorbacks from whom there is little Musselman can take because they are either seniors or expected to be drafted when the season began.

    They perceive this as their one last season, so there’s no threat of being pushed into the transfer portal and there’s no money that can be diminished thorugh NIL. That’s why stories have drifted out of Fayetteville of players telling Musselman he’s not going to talk to them that way or coach them in that manner. It’s also why word of Arkansas being stuck with one of the most uncoachable groups of players ever assembled quietly buzzes among coaching staffs in various corners of college basketball.

    Look at the three players fans most often cite for the effort they show on the court – Joseph Pinion, Layden Blocker and Tramon Mark. Not only does Musselman hold leverage over Pinion and Blocker, but they are both home grown players who are invested in the program and who have seen first-hand the fruit of what happens when players push through Musselman’s style of coaching.

    As for Mark, he’s just doing all he can to keep the rest of this team from ruining his potential as a first round draft pick. He came to sharpen himself for the NBA and the Arkansas coaching staff provides the best NBA prep in all of college basketball.

    The question now becomes whether Musselman continues to learn and adjust. He will likely have to replace at least 11 players. That’s a lot of transfers without much to rely upon as far as Razorbacks left behind to set the tone and expectation. If he doesn’t play his cards right, Arkansas could be right back where it currently is.

    In theory, the answer is to find a middle ground between last season and the current team. An assembly of talent light on freshmen, but also with only a sprinkle of seniors and graduate transfers. By relying heavily on sophomores and juniors, Musselman gets needed experience, but also required leverage.

    That will be important because he be missing a core group to be the example and voice that everything will be all right when he starts getting tough on everyone. That’s something that will have to be rebuilt.

    It will be a tough task, but Musselman has more than proven he is equipped for the challenge. He just has to fight his way through the rest of this season without losing his mind until he can officially hit the reset button.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. A tough, no nonsense disciplinarian who demands results…. sounds like his methods will blend perfectly with Carol’s…

      #…IN HELL….

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. ‘Without-a-Folt’ attracts a lot of dislike but I’ll go to bat for her on this one, I think she is a ‘milder Musselman’

        Liked by 1 person

  4. After Arkansas lost to Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday evening, Razorbacks’ coach Eric Musselman left the floor raging, firing off a string of f-bombs, then one of his assistants grabbed the phone of a student journalist…

    quote:

    Jack Weaver is a member of Kentucky Kernel, the independent student newspaper for the University of Kentucky. The assistant — director of internal operations, Riley Hall — grabbed the phone, then threw it to the ground, according to Weaver.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Nice…

      #EricMusselmanWillLoveBeingPartOfSouthernWokeUniversity….

      #…AndViceVersa…..

      Carol: Would you ever consider saying bad words as USC Coach?

      Eric Musselman: Fuck yes.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. No it was

        Carol: Would you ever consider saying bad words as USC Coach?

        Eric Musselman: Fuck yes and, FUCK YOU !

        Liked by 2 people

      2. karma —

        I like this thread –let’s keep it going:

        “Fuck your pretend compassion, your bullshit views on the First, Second and Fifth Amendments and all the chickenshit things you had to say during the George Floyd protests….. can I still be your next basketball coach?”

        #FeelFreeToAddMore[ButDon’tGetUsArrested]

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Folt ” Fuck the whole Constitution ! ”

        Folt to Musselman ” You like that word, Fuck. I live in Santa Monica, my husband is leaving for a week, care to stop by for some custard pie ? “

        Liked by 1 person

  6. I was a Season Ticket Holder in the first several years of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the time that his father Bill was the head coach. If the son is anything like his dad, do not even consider this guy. Sounds like he might be.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. This guy sounds real stable, apparently one game he was in such a rage pulled his shirt off.

    How the fuck do yo even interview a nut like this ?

    How the fuck does his behavior not set off every alarm bell in the USC Athletic Department ?

    How the fuck does Folt sign off on hiring this guy, if in fact SC hires him ?

    If SC does hire him, Wolf will have material forever !

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Ha! Picture Scott in a place of worship, hands folded, praying for Musselman’s contract to be signed tomorrow…if not later today…

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. He’ll quickly identify the perfect picture of him to use over & over & over again, ala Helton’s open mouth shot. (I know you can all see it in your heads right now.)

        Liked by 2 people

      3. If Musselman gets hired by SC I can just see Wolfie a year from now when the Trojans go 0-32, “See, I told you about this guy last year just like I warned you about Helton, Sark and Carrot– ok, so I was wrong about ‘Carat’

        Liked by 2 people

  8. Off Topic, but did anyone hear if the NCAA ever initiated an investigation based on this Blazer testimony? This was part of the Adidas Scandal that the FBI got involved with. As soon as the Duke Basketball Program got mentioned, along with Alabama Football this seems to have abruptly ended. I’m guess that since they nailed an USC Assistant Coach (Tony Bland), the NCAA felt their job was done. “Louis Martin Blazer, self-made former financial advisor out of Pittsburgh who is a cooperating witness with the federal government testified under direct examination that he directed payments to football players from Alabama, Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Northwestern and North Carolina between the years 2000 and up until 2013-14”. The Political Clout these NCAA Criminals have is frightening.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      3. Ha! No worries…

        …Michael Avanatti is sending out tweets today…

        #ApparentlySocialMediaIsDoableFromPrison

        Liked by 1 person

      6. The NCAA never goes after their sacred cows, never. ucla got their hand slapped once, ND never gets in trouble, Bama may have been told to ” please stop ” once. Duke ? Oh no, not Sir Mike, never. The NCAA hates USC, they hate other schools but USC is numero uno. Dan Weber wrote a nice piece about this last week on the USCfootball.com site

        Liked by 2 people

  10. Too mild, especially coming from you, BK

    (Responding to MG way up above)– Take God out of religion and all you have left is some idle social club

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    2. I might say FUCK MUSSELMAN, but Wolf won’t.

      Take GOD out of religion and we’ll have to reprint a lot of new money !

      Like

      Reply
  11. Pingback: USC Notes: Coaches Trying Hard For Wide Receiver – InsideUSC with Scott Wolf

Leave a comment