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Eric Musselman taking a pretty big risk with move to Arkansas

By Brad Berreman

DES MOINES, IOWA - MARCH 21: Head coach Eric Musselman of the Nevada Wolf Pack instructs his team against the Florida Gators in the first half during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
DES MOINES, IOWA - MARCH 21: Head coach Eric Musselman of the Nevada Wolf Pack instructs his team against the Florida Gators in the first half during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 21, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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After building something at Nevada, Eric Musselman is moving on to Arkansas and the SEC.

Eric Musselman has built things quickly at Nevada, with three straight regular season Mountain West titles, three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and an 86-20 record over that span. But according to multiple reports, Musselman is finalizing a deal to become the next head coach at Arkansas.

Musselman will replace Mike Anderson, who was fired in late March with a 169-102 record (78-64 in the SEC) and three NCAA Tournament appearances over eight seasons as Razorbacks’ coach.

Musselman had a 110-34 record over four seasons at Nevada. After reaching the Sweet 16 last year, the Wolfpack won 29 games again this past season but bowed out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Musselman has had a well-traveled coaching career, as a head coach or assistant in the CBA, NBA, D-League and in international competition as well as the college level. Over three combined seasons as an NBA head coach, with the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, he had  108-138 record.

Musselman does have a bit of SEC coaching experience, as he was associate head coach at LSU for one season (2014-15) before taking the job at Nevada. Now he’ll take the head coaching chair at Arkansas.

According to Seth Davis of The Athletic, Arkansas may have been waiting to make a run at Texas Tech coach Chris Beard. But with the Red Raiders beating Michigan State Saturday night and advancing to the national title game Monday night, the odds of getting Beard automatically got worse.

Musselman has been a rumored candidate for other job openings, so based on that he’s a good get for Arkansas. He may be leaving Nevada at the right time too, as a roster he built on transfers and grad transfers gets younger looking to next season.

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But Musselman’s prowess as a recruiter will be tested at Arkansas, as he tries to build a roster to consistently compete in the upper tier of the SEC. A significant bump in salary is surely coming, but the pressure is now on Musselman to a level it was never going to be at Nevada.