LOS ANGELES — Shortly after he was introduced Friday morning at USC, wearing a maroon tie he could’ve reasonably redistributed from his time at Arkansas, Eric Musselman planned to go on a walk. Because that’s what he likes to do.
He’d heard of a two-mile route he could stroll around USC’s campus, he told media. In between firing off texts and phone calls to players in the portal, trying to play catch-up for a men’s basketball roster nearly bereft of talent, Musselman wanted to get to know the students. He was brought here in specific part to inspire, to galvanize, to awaken a sleeping fandom around the program. So two miles would become six, because that’s simply how Musselman does things.
“We look forward to really getting involved in the community,” Musselman said Friday morning, “unlike, maybe – I don’t know, unlike a lot of other people have? I don’t know.”
And USC’s newest basketball coach introduced himself inside the Galen Center as a man of the people Friday, in humble white Nikes, the 5-foot-7 firecracker tasked with ushering in a new era of sheer relevance. Everyone – from USC president Carol Folt to athletic director Jen Cohen to Musselman himself – made sure to give Andy Enfield his flowers, the 11-year Trojans coach who’d officially departed for SMU on Monday. But it had become apparent, in a disastrous 15-18 season in which empty seats filled the Galen Center, that the program needed a spark entering the Big Ten.
Enter Musselman, known far and wide for his sheer fire, a man who once ripped off his shirt after Arkansas’ March Madness win over Kansas in 2023 and pumped an unclad fist to a cyclone of a Razorbacks home crowd.
“I’m going to state the obvious on this one: He’s not shy,” Cohen said. “We all know that. He’s got incredible energy and enthusiasm. We’re going to the Big Ten, and we need an elite homecourt advantage, and Eric has proven that he can unite the student body.”
Musselman paused later in a scrum, cocking his eyebrow and smiling, when asked who’d approached who first in USC’s search. He’d had so many conversations with Cohen, he indicated, it was difficult to remember. But when the job opened, Musselman did affirm, it was “of great interest.” And Cohen, Folt said Friday, immediately zeroed in on the former Arkansas coach in her search, her first hire since being appointed in August.
“We really want to create more excitement and energy, just like we’ve seen for women’s basketball,” Cohen said to media. “This is a destination job. You’ve got to love this place. You’ve got to want to be here. There was nobody that was more committed to USC than Eric Musselman.”
Musselman and family arrived by jet Thursday night from Arkansas, where he’d built a national contender across five seasons, reaching three straight Sweet Sixteens before slumping to 16-17 last year. And the work began the minute he stepped on campus, USC undergoing a full-on factory reset as the Big Ten beckons.
It was a concern, Musselman affirmed with a chuckle, that many of the top players in the transfer portal had already committed upon his minting at USC. At the moment, the program’s roster is as big a floating question mark as the item boxes in MarioKart; with Bronny James’ announced departure Friday morning and center Vincent Iwuchukwu reportedly entering the transfer portal, Musselman has little talent at his immediate disposal. The only sure-thing returner is junior Harrison Hornery; freshmen Brandon Gardner and Arrinten Page could exit in the wake of Enfield’s departure.
Musselman, though, did draw one immediate commit Thursday, with UMass 6-foot-10 transfer Josh Cohen flipping from Arkansas to USC. And the coach already hit the ground in recruiting – in a way – on Friday, hamming it up after his press conference with USC freshman point guard Isaiah Collier, the only player who’d attended. And Collier’s presence was notable, a freshman widely expected to enter the NBA sraft but who hasn’t made an official decision on his future; his return would be a major lift for Musselman.
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In any case, however, Musselman established Friday he was far from intimidated from the challenge of entering the Big Ten. Beyond experience building programs at Nevada and Arkansas, Musselman brings years of background coaching in the NBA. He was once an account executive with the Los Angeles Clippers, cracking he started his career trying to sell Clippers tickets in 1987 – a feat perhaps more difficult, the implication lay, than most in his career.
“Looking down the sidelines at guys like Tom Izzo, and guys that are legends, it’s not going to affect me,” Musselman said Friday. “Because I’ve looked down the sidelines, seen Phil Jackson and Pat Riley.”
And thus, the Muss era begins at USC, with a simple walk.