Apparently Eric Musselman and Hunter Yurachek have reached agreement on a new contract that’s kept Arkansas fans worrying themselves sick.
There were multiple reports Tuesday afternoon the sides reached a deal.
But the UA has been quiet over it, preferring to milk the publicity with social media posts.
On Monday, Yurachek posted what appeared to be a toast:
Sleep well Arkansas! @RazorbackMBB is in good hands. #OneRazorback pic.twitter.com/3dhOFjIEz4
— Hunter Yurachek (@HunterYurachek) April 13, 2021
Then followed with another of the well-produced videos Tuesday:
— Arkansas Razorback Basketball ? (@RazorbackMBB) April 13, 2021
Okay, there’s not going to be a lot of mystery left to resolve other than they are the best on campus at generating a lot of publicity over something that’s likely been in place for a few days.
Now everybody wants to talk about the numbers.
Musselman was making $2.5 million before this season and got an automatic $250,000 raise by making the Sweet 16, putting him at $2.75 million a year.
Bumping him to $3.5 million is really only a $750,000 raise and it may be higher than that.
Alabama gave Nate Oats a new deal that puts him around $3.2 million a year through 2026-27. Yes, the Crimson Tide are paying pretty big bucks for a coach that’s not named Nick Saban.
The new deal will make Musselman the highest-paid coach for the Razorbacks in any sport.
In the second-largest sport for the Hogs, when you take the program to heights not seen in over a quarter-century, well, you’ve earned a hefty raise. The fact that an Arkansas coach is mentioned every time there’s a big-time opening in the country will also play a role.
To be honest, it’s debatable who could be a better fit at Arkansas in today’s world of marketing and social media. Musselman works at that.
And it’s paying off in recruiting … both high school players and graduate transfers.
For now, though, it looks like the deal is done. How long it’s actually been done we may never know.
That really doesn’t matter, though.
All that matters is he keeps winning games and keep feeding the monster he awakened this past season.
