It sure sounds like Eric Musselman may be leaving Arkansas for USC
It has been an intriguing few days in Fayetteville regarding men's basketball coach Eric Musselman.
There had been rumors swirling after Arkansas' 16-17 season that Musselman would be heading out the door. Not because the Razorbacks didn't want him, mind you, but because he is a good coach despite this season's record.
He's 111-59 in five seasons at Arkansas with three trips to the NCAA tournament. He took the Razorbacks to back-to-back Elite Eights in 2021 and ’22.
That winning record is undoubtedly why Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek has seemingly gone on the offensive recently. Last week, he posted a repurposed video on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, seemingly insinuating that despite all the rumors, Musselman was staying at Arkansas.
He then backed that video up in an interview with the "1 Star Recruits" podcast.
"That video was just to kind of dispel some of the rumors that hey, he's still our basketball coach," Yurachek said (h/t Fort Smith Southwest Times Record) "Now this may change tomorrow. You'll have to ask Coach Musselman that, but we very much want him to be an Arkansas Razorback."
Yurachek may want Musselman back, but he didn't seem all that convinced the head coach would be in Fayetteville next season, did he
There's reason to believe Yurachek's doubt may be coming from a place of fact as well. Several job openings have hit the scene recently, with one of the more intriguing ones being the opening at USC after Andy Enfield jumped ship from SMU.
In fact, it's being reported by On3 that Mussellman will be interviewing for the vacated USC head coaching job on Wednesday.
After all this, Musselman could very well end up as the new head coach at USC, which would make Yurachek's video seem kind of silly, wouldn't it?
Perhaps he should have consulted the head coach before doing it, then.
"That is my sense of humor coming across," Yurachek said. "That was not something that was a coordinated or collaborated effort between myself and Coach Musselman."
That doesn't sound good for Arkansas' hopes of keeping Musselman in the fold. Next stop USC?
Stay tuned.
More must-reads: