What can we expect from Eric Musselman’s USC Trojans? – Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES — USC definitely won the press conference Friday morning.

To introduce new men’s basketball coach Eric Musselman, members of the Trojan Marching Band and Spirit Squad filed into the room…and if that wasn’t enough, Traveler – the honest horse, not a sort of costumed mascot or reasonable facsimile – in fact has also been spotted inside the Galen Center.

That was the easy part. New coach, new enthusiasm, lots of optimism.

But what will the Trojans look like once they’re operational next fall? There are a lot of questions now, mainly uncertainty over who will be in the fold when practices actually begin. But the 59-year-old Musselman’s breadth of experience as a head coach and assistant coach at multiple levels of the sport should be a major asset in building a team.

“I think you can see the program will be revitalized,” said Sacramento State head coach David Patrick, who was an assistant coach. with Musselman at LSU in 2014-15 (when Musselman was associate head coach) and associate head coach For Musselman at Arkansas in 2020-21.

“He obviously has great energy in the way he approaches social media or the way he interacts with fans, so you get that from day one every time he steps on campus,” Patrick said. “I think the other part is he’s going to be able to put a team together. He did this in Nevada. We did it in Arkansas. And he’ll be able to do that in the portal age, I think, better than most.

The high energy part, we have already seen it from day one. Building his first Trojan roster will be trickier — and that was made even more true with Bronny James’ statement Friday morning that he’s declaring for the NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility and also entering at the transfer portal. Talk about keeping your options open.

Then again, Isaiah Collier’s presence at Friday’s press conference – Collier being much more likely to be drafted than James at this point – may have spoken volumes.

But the players are here, in this era of what amounts to college free agency. And after facing reality as a head coach in the NBA (the Warriors from 2002 to 2004 and the Kings from 2006 to 2007) and in what is now known as the G-League (six seasons) and of USBL (one season), he knows where to find players and how to win with them.

“I feel like I fit in really well (because of) some of the other places I’ve coached, and some of those places where rosters change,” he said. “And with the way the portal is and everything, whatever the sport of college athletics is right now, it’s constantly evolving. It’s constantly changing.

Patrick, who left UC Riverside in the summer of 2020 after two successful seasons as head coach to join Musselman at Arkansas for one season, explained how today’s college landscape demands that building ‘a culture and the construction of a competitive list takes place in months. than years.

“The ability to attract guys into the portal and retain them when (NIL) money is on the line is tricky,” Patrick said. “I think the only thing that’s not complicated for Eric is that he did this within the ABC. This is what he did when he first started out: building a roster. He obviously did it in the NBA, so it’s not new to him. This is new for students. But he’s used to signing players in free agency and having a new team every two weeks, especially in the CBA.

“It will suit him perfectly.”

Musselman spoke Friday about “selling a vision,” discussing what a player’s role might look like and how best to develop players, and stressed that those plans would be individualized, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. .

The only issue he seemed stubborn about? His teams will not play zone defense.

“I think this is the best way to prepare our players beyond college on the basketball court,” Musselman said. “That’s half the game. And that’s obviously what happens at the NBA level. This is what is happening at the G-League level. And this is largely what is happening in Europe. And so if any of our players play beyond college, I want to try to prepare them to be the best I can be for their career.

There is a message there. Currently, three of his Arkansas guys are in the NBA: Moses Moody with the Warriors, Nick Smith with the Hornets and Jordan Walsh with the Celtics. This fact seems to catch the attention of any player who has their eyes set on the next level.

“My guess is young Collier will be included in the draft,” Patrick said. “But if he were to stay, he would be a kid who could say, ‘Hey, this guy has coached at the highest level.’ He’s got the menu to get you to the NBA. And I think that’s where Muss really differs from anybody in college basketball.

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Musselman, who played at the University of San Diego and whose first job out of college was in the Clippers’ front office in 1987, as as account manager. Imagine trying to sell tickets to a team that would finish 17-65, like these Clippers did. It’s a kind of initiation.

His next job in Los Angeles went more smoothly. He coached the LA D-Fenders, the Lakers’ team in what was then known as the D-League, in 2011-12. That team finished 38-12, led the league in defensive field goal percentage, and reached the D-League Finals before losing to Austin. Musselman was named the league’s Coach of the Year. The following season, he was on the staff at Arizona State.

This will likely be a concert that will last much longer. But by putting down roots in the community, there will likely be an adjustment that has little to do with hoops.

“He loves the Padres,” Patrick said.