NCAA Basketball: Potential impact of Arkansas HC Eric Musselman taking the USC job

Last week we received confirmation that Andy Enfield was leaving USC after eleven years to take the head coaching position at SMU. While the Trojans did struggle this past season, there weren’t reports that USC was considering a change, making Enfield’s move more of a proactive one. Regardless, it leaves USC with an opening here in early April.

The Trojans have already begun gathering information on potential candidates to be their next head coach, though they’re starting off in an unfortunate position. The Transfer Portal has already been open and hundreds upon hundreds of names are already out on the open market. USC will hope to get their next leader for basketball to Los Angeles sooner rather than later so he and his staff can get to work.

One potential name that’s been prominently mentioned for the USC opening has been Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman. Not only has Musselman been excellent as a college head coach at both Nevada and Arkansas, he’s spent years work in California at the NBA and G-League levels, including head coaching stints with both the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings. Aside from geography, he’s been very successful in utilizing the Transfer Portal and coaching his players in Fayetteville.

It’s very realistic that Musselman bolts for USC and it’s been reported that he’s interviewing with the Trojans this week. If this move were to happen, there’d be a ripple effect, with a certain impact at these two schools and perhaps elsewhere in the country. Right now, Musselman is simply talking to USC and there’s no guarantee of a potential move. Still, we’re going to look at what could happen if he does take his coaching talent back to the West Coast.