Phil & Tye discuss early thoughts on Eric Musselman and interviews Jimmy Dykes!
Things might be a little different with Razorback basketball’s new coach
Maybe more than any other potential candidate, Eric Musselman made it clear to Hunter Yurachek he WANTED the job, had a passion for basketball details and had plenty of energy.
“Watch out Chad Morris,” Yurachek said during his introduction to the football coach sitting in the second row, who hardly ever appears to be still.
When he finally offered the job to Musselman on Friday, the positive answer probably caused Yurachek to move the phone directly off his hear. Apparently it was that loud, accompanied by an enthusiastic response from the family.
“That’s what you want when you offer somebody a job,” Yurachek said. “He was about ready to jump through the phone if he could have.”
Apparently he was that way the first time talked to Yurachek several days before that.
“After I hung up the phone I told my wife I was going on a five-mile run and sprinted out the door,” Musselman told the fans at his introduction.
Somehow it’s hard to imagine any previous Razorback basketball coach doing that. Maybe a mile or two, but not five miles starting with a sprint.
That enthusiasm is something that tends to be infectious.
Morris was a math major and studies the numbers in football. So does Musselman in basketball. Some coaches don’t talk about that much, but not him.
“NBA players are motivated by numbers,” he said. “Certain numbers, yes, we’ll try to motivate our guys with.”
He’s right about that. The pro players can quote their stats faster than they can what they had for breakfast that morning.
“For example, ‘you’re one rebound away from a double-double … go get it,” he said.
Musselman did his homework as soon as he talked to Yurachek.
“As soon as Hunter called, I started watching film of the guys,” he said in the media press conference. “I locked myself in the room to see the talent level. When Hunter and Jon came, I thought it was important they knew what I thought about the team. I wanted them to know I was invested. I continued to watch as much tape as possible between the first call and when we met.”
It’s probably a safe assumption that made an impression on the guy making the final decision.
“He embraced the history of the program and wanted to be a part of that and take the program to the next level,” Yurachek said.
In a way it’s recruiting. When a coach can recruit his way into a job it’s a pretty good bet he’ll do okay talking good players into coming to Arkansas.
Musselman also started recruiting in his first press conference … with the players currently on the roster.
“As of right now, I’m shocked and excited about the guys,” he said. “I got to spend time with the team and ate with them. Right now they’re excited and happy and ready to start on the court maybe later this week. I don’t anticipate anyone leaving.”
A lot of coaches send messages through the media and there may have been a little bit of that going on.
Just like the time the other night he finished talking to former Razorback player Corey Beck, whom he knew from their CBA days.
“You’ll find out I do a lot of odd things,” Musselman said. “I think it was around 1:15 a.m. when we finished talking.”
For Hog fans, that could be an indicator of things to come. No, that’s not any sort of guess at the wins and losses.
It’s a guess this won’t be boring.
Razorbacks host Oral Roberts in midweek matchup at Baum-Walker
FAYETTEVILLE — After winning a third road series last week, Arkansas looks to continue its winning stretch Tuesday when they return home for a single midweek game against Oral Roberts at Baum-Walker Stadium.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and you can hear the game on ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home. It will will be broadcast online via SEC Network+ and the Watch ESPN app.
The Razorbacks (24-8, 8-4 SEC) are riding high after taking two-of-three on the road against then-No 15 Auburn last weekend.
Arkansas battled back from a 6-3 series-opening loss to win game two, 9-6, in 15 innings. The Hogs followed up the marathon game with an 8-0 shutout of the Tigers the next day to win their second conference series on the road this year and in a tie for first in the SEC Western Division.
Looking to build on its two-game winning stretch, Arkansas will take on an Oral Roberts team that it hasn’t seen in the regular season since 2012.
The Hogs and Golden Eagles have faced off four-consecutive times in the postseason as they have been matched up in the same regional in three of the past four years.
In last year’s NCAA Fayetteville Regional, Arkansas won its opening game with ORU, 10-2, behind a two-home run performance by Heston Kjerstad.
Kjerstad is one of Arkansas’ hottest hitters going into this week as he hit two homers against Auburn, one being in the top of the 15th inning of game two that was the final tally Arkansas needed for the victory.
Kjerstad is batting .309 for the year with a team-leading seven homers, as well as 22 RBIs. His seven home runs ranks in a tie for eighth in the SEC.
Follow live
Tuesday’s game with the Golden Eagles will be available via SEC Network+ and the ESPN app. Brett Dolan (PxP) and Troy Eklund (Analyst) will have the call.
Fans can listen to the radio call on ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home and via the Razorback Gameday app as Phil Elson and Bubba Carpenter will have the call from Baum-Walker Stadium.
Pregame coverage begins 30 minutes prior to first pitch. There will also be a live radio link available on ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
Important Links
Live Video – WATCH
Live Stats – VIEW
Live Audio – LISTEN
Probable Starters
(ARK) RHP Marshall Denton (1-0, 2.84 ERA, 10 K, 1 BB) vs. (ORU) TBA
Razorback Prime Nine
• After a road series win at No. 15 Auburn last week, Arkansas returns home for a single midweek game with Oral Roberts. This is the first regular-season matchup between the two programs since 2012.
• Arkansas won its second road series in conference play last week when it took 2-of-3 from Auburn. It’s the Hogs’ third road series win overall this year, matching their most since 2015.
• The Razorbacks won a marathon 15-inning game on the backend of a doubleheader with Auburn on Friday. It was the longest game in terms of innings since 2004 (16 innings vs. SE Missouri St.).
• Freshman Patrick Wicklander has made 13 appearances this year, seven as a starter. In those games as a starter, the San Jose native has a 1.98 ERA, six earned runs allowed and 39 strikeouts.
• Patrick Wicklander has held opponents to a .186 batting average this season, which is the second-lowest among all freshman pitchers in the SEC.
• Arkansas and Oral Roberts have faced off four-consecutive times in the postseason before Tuesday’s game. The Hogs and Golden Eagles have been matched up in the same regional in three of the last four years.
• Junior Dominic Fletcher added to his league-best doubles total last week, hitting two against Auburn giving him 16 for the season. He’s tied with Mississippi State’s Jake Mangum for the SEC’s best mark.
• Right-hander Marshall Denton will be making his third start of the year on Tuesday against Oral Roberts. In each of his last starts, he went two-plus scoreless innings with only one walk allowed.
• Redshirt senior Trevor Ezell batted in the leadoff spot for the first time this year last week and he responded with a .389 average, including two multi-hit games, two home runs and a team-best seven RBIs.
Up next
Arkansas goes back on the road for the weekend as it travels to sixth-ranked Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Commodores will be the Razorbacks’ fourth ranked opponent of the year and third on the road.
The series begins on Friday at 7 p.m. and runs through Sunday.
Musselman introduced as new coach of Razorbacks on Monday
Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek introduced Eric Musselman to the media after his introduction to the fans as the new coach, replacing Mike Anderson.
Yurachek detailing how coaching search handled, difficult firing
Razorbacks athletics director Hunter Yurachek talked with the media about how hard decision was to fire Mike Anderson, process of selecting Eric Musselman.
???? Monday Halftime Pod — former Danny West of 247 Sports
Phil Elson & Tye Richardson hit on the new man on campus, talk spring game with Danny West, and more!
Looking back at Red-White Game with best in pictures
Saturday’s Red-White Game marked the end of Arkansas’ spring practice (well, except for a Monday workout closed to media and public), and here are the best photos from that.
Photos by Ted McClenning | HitThatLine.com
Bud Light Morning Rush Podcast: Monday
John, Tommy, & Nick discuss the Eric Musselman hire, Eddie in Clarksville weighs in, and the recruiting changes.
Yurachek gets Musselman, who may have been target all along
Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek was conspicuous by has absence at Saturday’s Red-White football game.
With many fans exhausted by his search for a coach to replace Mike Anderson, Chad Morris’ second spring game was a welcome diversion.
But Yurachek wasn”t there. Turns out he was in Reno, Nevada, getting a signature from Nevada coach Eric Musselman to be the new coach.
First, there was the assumption Yurachek would be going after Houston coach Kelvin Sampson. That didn’t work out, which caused some fans to start worrying another coach had used them to get a raise, which may or may not have happened.
Then Musselman’s name surfaced Monday. A couple of sources told me it was a done deal. Maybe it was.
More names surfaced in a “flavor of the day” routine with message board rumor mills circulating just about every name, but most wanting a call made to Chris Beard, the Texas Tech (and former Arkansas-Little Rock) coach.
Coaching searches these days don’t work that way.
Besides, Beard wasn’t leaving a team he’s taking to the national championship game in three years. No clue he has any thoughts about Arkansas one way or the other.
Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall and former UCLA coach Steve Alford may have been convenient smokescreens.
All of which makes you wonder if Musselman was Yurachek’s first choice all along.
There’s no saying Yurachek had all this planned before firing Mike Anderson. But, once it happened, he could read a calendar and probably wasn’t in a big rush to get it done. Don’t take that as guessing he dragged it out at all.
It’s been less than two weeks.
Debating whether it was the best move for Yurachek to make is a waste of time now. You’re either on the bandwagon, standing by watching or about to jump under it. That’s an individual call.
Now it’s about watching what he does.
Musselman should know he’s got to win games. Quick.
Nobody knows how long the window is for comfort. There will be some that will expect big-time success immediately. No idea if that will happen or not.
People that know basketball say he’s flexible in style. At Nevada he played a positionless style, with the rebounder bringing the ball up the floor in a quick fashion and blending transfers with some junior college talent.
Keep in mind, too, that Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson were mid-major coaches when they were hired by Frank Broyles. Sutton came from Creighton and Richardson from Tulsa.
Neither took their teams as far in the NCAA as Musselman has taken Nevada to a Sweet 16 appearance. His winning percentage of 76.4% is slightly above Nolan’s Tulsa mark of 76.3% and Eddie’s mark at Creighton of 62.1%.
In case you’re wondering, Stan Heath only had a year of being a head coach and John Pelphrey’s an alarming 54.4% winning percentage. It was alarming how he got hired with that track record despite the mess things were after Dana Altman’s quick departure.
A lot of the internet “experts” think Musselman got to recruit and develop high school players to be successful at Arkansas. “They” keep saying that’s essential.
My question is in this world of the best players staying, at the most, two years exactly what is the difference between them and juco or transfers?
It matters how you manage what you got.
Musselman has done a pretty good job of that at Nevada. It’s a trait pro coaches have dealt with for years. Rare is the case of a player staying somewhere for five years, much less a decade (don’t throw exceptions out there because there are a few, but very few).
At one point a couple of weeks ago it was pointed out in a national media story there were over 500 players in the transfer portal for men’s basketball alone. Yes, that’s what the world of college sports has become.
Look at the aforementioned Beard, who has brought Tech to the title game in three years … with the help of transfers. Two of them have been the best players on the team this year.
As I said it’s not where you get the players or how long you have them in the world of college basketball these days.
It appears more depends on what a coach does with what he has.
Musselman’s track record there is pretty good.
Which is why he may have been Yurachek’s first choice all along.
Razorbacks fall to Tennessee, then bounce back to down Oral Roberts
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas split play on Sunday’s senior day, falling to Tennessee before defeating Oral Roberts.
Prior to the Oral Roberts match, senior Shwetha Prabakar was honored as part of senior day activities.
The Hogs dropped a close doubles point against the Lady Vols, with Tennessee clinching the point in the third set.
Martina Zerulo and Thea Rice put Arkansas up a set with a 6-2 victory before No. 16 Sadie Hammond and Kaitlin Staines tied doubles with a 6-3 win over Tatum Rice and Lauren Alter.
Tennessee ended doubles with a 6-4 defeat over Miruna Tudor and Jackie Carr to go up 1-0.
The Lady Vols went up 2-0 as Laura Rijkers fell 6-0, 6-1 before No. 104 Zerulo earned Arkansas’ lone point of the match with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over No. 65 Hammond.
Tennessee got within one of the clinch as Alter fell 6-3, 6-4 and clinched the match with a third set victory over No. 84 Tatum Rice.
Arkansas took the doubles point against Oral Roberts in straight sets, with Tatum Rice and Alter earning a 6-1 win before Prabakar and Tudor clinched the point at the No. 3 position.
The Razorbacks quickly went up 2-0 as Oral Roberts forfeited at the No. 4 position before Tatum Rice put the team within one of the clinch with a 6-0, 6-1 victory.
Prabakar put the match away at the No. 6 position, earning a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
The Hogs will return to the court next weekend to close out the regular season at Auburn and Alabama.
For more information on Razorback women’s tennis, follow @RazorbackWTEN on Twitter.
Match One | No. 17 Tennessee 4, No. 40 Arkansas 1
Doubles Results – Order of Finish (2,1,3)
1. No. 16 Sadie Hammond/Kaitlin Staines (UT) def. Lauren Alter/Tatum Rice (ARK) 6-3
2. Martina Zerulo/Thea Rice (ARK) def. Maia Haumuller/Tenika McGiffin (UT) 6-2
3. Rebeka Mertena/Johanna Silva (UT) def. Miruna Tudor/Jackie Carr (ARK) 6-4
Singles Results – Order of Finish (4,1,3,2)
1. No. 104 Martina Zerulo (ARK) def. No. 65 Sadie Hammond (UT) 6-0, 6-3
2. Kaitlin Staines (UT) def. No. 84 Tatum Rice (ARK) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
3. Johanna Silva (UT) def. Lauren Alter (ARK) 6-3, 6-4
4. Rebeka Mertena (UT) def. Laura Rijkers (ARK) 6-0, 6-1
5. Miruna Tudor (ARK) vs. Ariadna Riley (UT) 6-4, 6-5, unfinished
6. Jackie Carr (ARK) vs. Tenika McGiffin (UT) 2-6, 6-2, 2-1, unfinished
Match Two | No. 40 Arkansas 5, Oral Roberts 0
Doubles Results – Order of Finish (1,3)
1. Tatum Rice/Lauren Alter (ARK) def. Ceijenia Cornelius/Flavia Gutierrez (ORUW) 6-1
2. Martina Zerulo/Thea Rice (ARK) vs. Rai Sengupta/Andrea Vasiljevic (ORUW) 5-3, unfinished
3. Shwetha Prabakar/Miruna Tudor (ARK) def. Valentina Gisbert/Jovana Antonijevic (ORUW) 6-3
Doubles Results – Order of Finish (4,2,6,1)
1. Martina Zerulo (ARK) vs. Ceijenia Cornelius (ORUW) 6-1, 6-1
2. Tatum Rice (ARK) def. Rai Sengupta (ORUW) 6-0, 6-1
3. Lauren Alter (ARK) vs. Flavia Gutierrez (ORUW) 7-6 (7-5), 2-0, unfinished
4. Laura Rijkers (ARK) def. Jovana Antonijevic (ORUW) 3-0, retired
5. Thea Rice (ARK) vs. Andrea Vasiljevic (ORUW) 6-2, 5-2, unfinished
6. Shwetha Prabakar (ARK) def. Valentina Gisbert (ORUW) 6-3, 6-1
