NBA Sees Arkansas as Ivy League of College Basketball

Players can play ball anywhere, but "Professor" Musselman makes UA one of few places to get valuable basketball education

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Jul 17, 2022 11:47 AM EDT

DALLAS – While in Dallas for a conference this past week, I flipped through what is down to two sports stations after ESPN failed to gain a foothold in the area.

The topic of the day was how disappointed the hosts were in the Dallas Mavericks summer league team, describing the group as virtually unwatchable. Perhaps the most interesting part of the segment was a rant about recent draft pick Jaden Hardy not knowing the bare basics needed to play NBA basketball and how a member of the Mavs organization apparently agreed.

The frustration began with the hosts realizing Hardy kept dribbling himself into double-teams. He wasn't actually being double-teamed, but because he didn't understand the game and how to read defenses, he kept turning reasonably easy situations into double-teams, making the game hard for himself.

Dallas Mavericks guard Jaden Hardy (3) attempts to lob a pass around Utah Jazz guard Tacko Fall (99) and Utah Jazz guard Jared Butler (13) during an NBA Summer League game at Cox Pavilion.
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Once that clicked, they said they noticed Hardy also didn't appear to understand how to run a basic pick and roll, nor how to defend it. Simple fundamental after fundamental that every NBA player should know kept coming up as deficient.

So the hosts said they talked to an official with the Mavs who said the team saw the same issues, but indicated it wasn't something unexpected in these times.

"We have to beat the AAU out of him," the hosts said the official told them.

They then went on to describe a lack of quality coaching at the AAU level. Apparently, the kids are so naturally talented that coaches refrain from properly addressing the mental aspect of the game that requires difficult teaching, instead opting for the value of the player simply getting to show scouts how they play against other quality players.

This supposedly turns into a lot of one-on-one action as opposed to team fundamentals, leaving developmental holes in elite players. When these players get to college, the impression at the NBA level appears to be that once most college coaches determine a player is going to be one-and-done, they purposefully choose to not invest a lot of time in the player on more difficult to teach long-term skills.

After-all, the young man is going to be gone in a few months. The ultimate goal is to get him to develop chemistry with the team and maybe get someone not used to playing defense to at least get in a basic defensive stance and stick with his guy without fouling out.

It's a radio segment Eric Musselman should record and play for every recruit who visits and twice on Sundays for every player who thinks Musselman might be pushing him too hard on learning the details of the games.

Eric Musselman-Vermont-NCAA — Arkansas head coach analyzes the action on the court as Arkansas takes on Vermont in the NCAA tournament.
Greg Fisher / USA TODAY Sports

That's because the one coach in college basketball who gets most consistently praised for how much his players know when it comes to NBA preparation and mindset is Musselman.

It happens the same way every year. A player goes to the combine or joins a team and the broken record kicks into play again.

[Insert former Razorback name here] said today he was shocked at how well he knew the terminology and thought process when he got to [insert NBA combine or NBA practice here].

"We have been pleased to see how much [insert Musselman coached Razorback player here] already knew and understood about how we do things here with the [insert NBA organization]," [Insert NBA team coach or owner name here] said. "He has been able to pick up the things we need all our players to know much faster than most."

It hasn't taken long for NBA scouts, coaches, owners and general managers to realize that the knowledge in how to analyze what is being thrown at them on the floor is much higher with Razorback players that those coming out of most programs.

Arkansas fans have seen the videos packages that were once all about how much the players sweat in practice replaced with video of Musselman grinding on his players about what each player they face will do and how to avoid ending up in bad situations when opponents run specific offenses and defenses.

Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman breaks things down for his players in practice. The learning and mental aspect of a Razorback practices dominates just as much time as players being in action.
Andy Hodges – AH Media

It's not the general teaching that happens at every school. It's teaching on a level that is the difference between knowing Hitler was Germany's leader in World War II and, instead, knowing every step he took in legally rising to power, why people watched it happen, why he made every decision he made, and why other world leaders acted, or in some cases didn't act at all, the way they did.

It's the depth in which Musselman asks his players to understand that's the difference.

There are a lot of places where athletes can go to play ball, but Fayetteville isn't one of them. That's not the brand anymore.

Arkansas is where athletes come to get an education in basketball. Games on Tuesdays and Saturdays are merely where they attempt to demonstrate their mastery of the material.

It's why Razorback fans have watched Musselman teams with less talent take down team after team loaded with supposed lottery picks, especially after January 15 when it appears the dispensing of knowledge is complete and it's all about improving how to apply it at a high level.

Gonzaga Bulldogs center Chet Holmgren (34) battles for the ball against Arkansas Razorbacks forward Kamani Johnson (20) during the first half in the semifinals of the West regional. The win sets up a rematch of the 1994 national championship game between Duke and Arkansas in the Elite 8 in what is Blue Devils' coach Mike Krzyzewski's final season.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

It's why some former Razorbacks, had they been on other teams, would have been immediately shuffled off to a random foreign country they can't find on a map to play professional basketball after college. Instead, because they finished college with this depth of knowledge, they are able to stick around and become NBA journeymen.

As long as Musselman is at Arkansas, it will be viewed as an Ivy League of college basketball by NBA scouts. They know, without doubt, that the players who come from there are top notch in their basketball education.

No beating the AAU out of players required.