Less than 24 hours after being announced as the new head coach of USC men’s basketball, Eric Musselman was formally introduced by USC President Carol Folt and athletic director Jennifer Cohen at a press conference on Friday morning at Galen Center.
“This is a transformational day for USC men’s basketball. I want to thank you all for being here today to welcome Eric Musselman, his wife Danyelle, his absolutely incredible family to our Trojan family,” Cohen said. “Throughout our conversations and all the other conversations that we had with other people that knew Eric, worked with Eric, competed against Eric, it became very clear that he was the right person at the right time for USC men’s basketball.”
Musselman, who grew up in Southern California, opened his speech by reflecting on how coming to USC was a great opportunity for everyone in his family.
“When opportunities like this are put in front of you, leadership and the top of the leadership becomes so important for a coach to make a decision on the next opportunity,” Musselman said. “And certainly, through the conversations with Jen and Dr. Folt, it became clear that this was a great, great place for not only myself, but also our family.”
Folt, who was the first to welcome Musselman to USC during the press conference, spoke about the importance of making the right hire as the Trojans prepare for their first season in the Big Ten next year.
“It’s really great to be celebrating today. Most of you know that USC Athletics was one of the five presidential moonshots that we started getting going when I arrived,” Folt said. “This is no small step. In fact, it’s a giant leap into the Big Ten as we move forward. It’s a new era for Trojans men’s basketball. We know that you are the right person for that job, Eric.”
Musselman also believes that the success that the USC women’s basketball team had this year will be very beneficial on the recruiting trail.
“I will say that the women’s basketball team’s success and what coach [Lindsay] Gottlieb has done is incredible,” Musselman said. “During the interview process, they were making a huge run. It was so cool to watch her team play with such great passion.”
Because of the success of the women’s team, Musselman said he hopes to partner with Gottlieb in order to help with recruiting. Musselman said that a lot of recruits that he has talked to were watching USC in March Madness, especially after Gottlieb’s squad made it all the way to the Elite Eight before losing to UConn on Monday.
In addition, Musselman also said that he plans to go and support as many other USC teams as possible and be an active member of the campus community. He even asked Cohen if he could join the football team on its charter flights for away games.
Musselman knows that he has a lot of work to do in order to construct the roster for the upcoming season. He said that he planned to speak with the team after the press conference and was seen talking with freshman guard Isaiah Collier once the conference had ended. Musselman’s conversation with Collier leads many to wonder if the former No. 1 recruit will stay at USC for his sophomore season and not declare for the draft. So far, Musselman’s only commitment is UMass transfer forward Josh Cohen, who announced that he was flipping his commitment from Arkansas to USC in order to play for Musselman.
Despite the commitment from Cohen, USC lost three players, Kijani Wright, Oziyah Sellers and Kobe Johnson, to the transfer portal last week, with Johnson announcing on Thursday that he will be transferring to crosstown rival UCLA. In addition, freshman guard Bronny James and sophomore forward Vincent Iwuchukwu also announced their intentions to transfer on Friday.
While Musselman still is unsure what his roster for next season will look like, he knows that he wants to try to play with a style that is different from how most Big Ten teams play.
“Stylistically, we have to have some of the Big Ten characteristics,” Musselman said, “but also we want to be different, so that when we play teams in conference, maybe it’s not a steady diet of what they see every night.”
Musselman will now look to put together a roster that can compete in the Big Ten, as the Trojans prepare to transition to their new conference next winter.