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In the 2022 NCAA Tournament, Arkansas head basketball coach Eric Musselman was asked about the difficulty in game planning for Teddy Allen, a lethal scorer on the New Mexico squad.
Musselman shrugged off the question in a way, not out of disrespect, but because he’d been there before.
“He’s really good,” Musselman said. “But I’ve also game planned for Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.”
He’s right – that’s what a decade’s worth of assistant and head coaching in the NBA will do. Musselman’s schemed for the world’s top players, gaining a large majority of that NBA experience on the West Coast.
The now Razorback head coach held the same role for both the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings in the early 2000s. He could very well find himself back in California if USC gets its way.
Eric Musselman has become the Trojan’s top target…
And he’s reportedly set to interview for the newly vacant head coaching role in Los Angeles.
REPORT: Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman is set to interview with USC tomorrow, per @SSchraderOn3👀https://t.co/GBegPRcrvA pic.twitter.com/vDy3yfgww2
— On3 (@On3sports) April 2, 2024
He’s done a fantastic job of not only building a program at Arkansas, but also attracting top talent, however, the opportunity in LA might be too good to pass up.
Much of that has to do with what’s currently on the roster.
USC boasts former five-star prospects Isaiah Collier, Vincent Iwuchukwu, and Bronny James. The latter is a name of note as Musselman is a bit more familiar with the James family than most.
The coach got to see his fair share of Bronny in high school as he successfully recruited Sierra Canyon teammate Isaiah Elohim to Arkansas.
But the ties go a step further than that.
How many people can say went head-to-head with LeBron James??
Eric Musselman can.
As a head coach, he split four NBA contests against LeBron’s Cavs while also facing off against the league’s all-time leading scorer on multiple occasions as an assistant.
Musselman’s Warriors went 2-0 against James in his rookie season before LeBron repaid the favor with a 2-0 sweep in ’06-07 while Musselman was leading the Kings.
Now, things have come full circle as he could soon be working with the James’s should he land the USC gig.
Time will tell if that comes to fruition, but many believe this upcoming interview to be nothing more than a formality.
“It’s his job if he wants it.”
If so, it could mean good news for the Trojans regarding the uncertainty currently surrounding Bronny James’s future.