Elite NCAA tournament coaches don’t come around often, but Arkansas may officially have one in Eric Musselman. The high-energy coach put on perhaps his most impressive performance yet, taking down No. 1 Kansas 72–71 as a No. 8 seed Saturday in an upset that further shook up the NCAA tournament field.
Since Nolan Richardson, the Arkansas program had consistently fallen flat in the Big Dance. The Hogs went twice under Stan Heath, once under John Pelphrey and three times under Mike Anderson, but failed to get out of the first weekend in all six appearances. Enter Musselman. After likely missing the NCAA tournament before the event was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arkansas has now made the Sweet 16 in three consecutive seasons. It gave eventual national champion Baylor its toughest test of the 2021 tournament, took out overall No. 1 seed Gonzaga last season and now has toppled the defending champion Jayhawks.
This year’s effort might be Musselman’s best coaching job yet. He has earned a reputation as one of the sport’s best shape-shifters, adapting constantly to changing personnel in the transfer portal age. But this year, he’s had to constantly shift his rotation due to injuries. Talented forward Trevon Brazile sustained a season-ending knee injury in early December, while five-star freshman guard Nick Smith missed much of the season due to knee issues before returning in mid-February. Once a small-ball extraordinaire, Musselman instead had to embrace bully-ball, his team ranking among the worst in the nation in three-point shooting but finding ways to win with size and physicality.
