Nevada head coach Eric Musselman celebrates as his team defeated Cincinnati during a second-round game in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, March 18, 2018. Nevada defeated Cincinnati 75-73. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Leave it to the West Coast’s preeminent football school to make the basketball move the region desperately needs.
The ‘Muss Bus’ rolled into Los Angeles on Thursday when USC announced the hiring of Eric Musselman following his superb five-year run at Arkansas.
The moment the news became official, the sport changed for the better — not only at USC and across Southern California but throughout the Pacific and Mountain Time Zones.
Musselman is the new blood USC needs, the antagonist UCLA needs, the competition Arizona and Gonzaga need and the Amphetamine everyone needs.
The sport has been sagging for years across the region, lacking star players, interesting coaches and consistent excellence on the court.
The West Coast hasn’t won a national title since 1997 (Arizona) and claims just a handful of Final Four berths over the past 15 years.
Gonzaga is a terrific program, but it’s tucked away in Spokane and spends most of the season competing against West Coast Conference opponents.
UCLA is rarely the supreme villain of old and spends precious little time in the top 10.
Arizona does everything necessary to occupy a leading role, except win in March.
And starting next season, the Pac-12 won’t exist to anchor the sport from Seattle to L.A. and the Bay Area to Salt Lake City.
A unifying force is needed for fans to love, hate, mock, praise or simply observe with bemusement.
“With the demise of the Pac-12, college sports on the West Coast, and basketball in particular, is becoming very fragmented,” ESPN analyst Sean Farnham, a California native and former UCLA player, wrote in a text message following the Musselman news.
“It needs a face and an energetic personality to cut through the national noise. Eric Musselman is that for USC.”
Certainly, Musselman brings a different vibe to a region where the most successful coaches prefer low profiles.
He was using social media to promote his program years before it became trendy. He goes shirtless to celebrate big wins. He’s wired so tight he uses Red Bull as a sedative.
Musselman’s style isn’t for everybody. But he’ll demand attention, win games and raise the competitive bar for everyone, starting with the program across town.
“He’s an elite recruiter with the proven track record to build rosters and have success,” Farnham noted. “He’s done that with an undying passion for the sport and an energy that’s rarely surpassed by anyone.”
The former Warriors and Kings coach left the pro ranks in the early 2010s, learned the college game at Arizona State and LSU — not many former NBA coaches are willing to be college assistants — and took charge of Nevada’s program in 2015.
Over nine seasons with Nevada and Arkansas, Musselman won at least 20 games eight times, went to the Sweet 16 four times and reached the Elite Eight twice.
He has beaten two No. 1 seeds and a No. 2.
He has signed five-star recruits, lured A-level transfers and produced first-round picks.
His presence poses a direct and immediate threat to UCLA, but also to Oregon and Washington as the West Coast quartet enters the Big Ten next season.
He will compete with Arizona and Gonzaga for talent, attention and high seeds in the NCAA.
Musselman runs hot and, much like Jim Harbaugh, works best in four- or five-year increments. It’s difficult to envision him duplicating Andy Enfield’s 11-season run at USC.
But athletic director Jen Cohen needed someone with the coaching chops and personality to stand next to her other headliners, football coach Lincoln Riley and women’s basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
A rising star from the Mountain West or West Coast Conference wasn’t going to cut it.
A well-regarded assistant coach from one of the sport’s blue-blood programs wasn’t going to cut it.
He inherits a program that has reached the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four years. This isn’t a full rebuild; it’s a modest renovation. USC is a football school that possesses the resources and recruiting base to win on the court at a high level.
And like UCLA, the Trojans have a path to sustained success in the Big Ten, where the legacy schools (Indiana and Michigan State) are meandering and the best program resides in West Lafayette, Ind. — not in Ann Arbor or Columbus.
Big Ten basketball is not Big Ten football. There is opportunity galore for the West Coast four.
“Musselman should ignite an energy that USC hasn’t seen,” Farnham added. “The success of the program, coupled with his arrival and his passion to engage fans, hopefully will create a home environment that will allow the Galen Center to find a great deal of success in the Big Ten.
“Plus, now when he takes off his shirt after big wins, he’ll at least have that Manhattan Beach tan.”
Musselman will repel as many fans as he attracts, which is fine. Savior, villain, hero, foil — the region needs all of them.
The role itself doesn’t matter.
Musselman’s presence is what matters.
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Originally published at Jon Wilner