NBA's Commissioner Hands Musselman Recruiting Gift

Comments on player development, thoughts on NIL set up potential bounce back in recruiting for Arkansas Razorbacks

Author:
Kent Smith
Publish date:
Feb 19, 2024 1:30 PM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In a season stacked higher than he would like of bad news, Arkansas basketball coach Eric Musselman may have finally got a bit of good news from NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

Less than a year after losing Duncanville 5-star guard Ron Holland to the G-League, Silver says it may be time to do away the G-League Ignite program that was geared toward giving players coming out of high school an option to make a little money playing basketball and trading on their name, image and likeness.

"I think given that [college NIL] has happened, I think we are in the process of reassessing Team Ignite," Silver said at a press conference at Lucas Oil Stadium prior to the NBA All-Star festivities. "Because now some of those same players who didn't want to be one-and-done players because they felt it was unfair and they wanted the ability not just to earn a living playing basketball, but to do commercial deals that weren't available to them at college, to hire professional agents, an opportunity that wasn't available to them at college, they now, all of those same opportunities have become available to them."

That alone is a good reason for optimism for Musselman as he plans his rebuild of the Razorbacks' basketball program for the coming year. However, it was the additional reasoning Silver gave that reloaded a slowly emptying cache of bullets in the Arkansas coach's proverbial gun when it comes to fighting off other teams in recruiting.

Silver wants to take the money currently directed toward the Ignite program and use it to help supplement a more European approach to youth basketball. He said he wants to see programs in the United States spend more time on basic skills.

"If you're seeing now what we're seeing in terms of that close to 30 percent of the league, players born outside the United States, it's clear that the development is very different in many of those programs outside the United States," Silver said. "[There's] more of a focus on practice, less of a focus on games, which seems to be the opposite of many of the youth programs in the United States."

The NBA commissioner expressed frustration as executives spend big money on players who arrive at the draft not knowing how to play defense, nor function within a team. Those two things are Musselman's calling card and Arkansas fans have seen first-hand what it looks like when a properly trained athlete competes alongside one who hasn't gone through, as one coach so gracefully put it, "beating the AAU out of them."

"[American born college basketball players are] coming into the league incredibly skilled," Silver said. "But that doesn't necessarily translate to being team basketball players. And then, what I'm hearing from some of those same coaches that may be complaining about inability to play defense, is that these players are not as prepared as I'd like them to be, particularly as very high draft picks."

Last season, 5-star guard Nick Smith spent most of the year practicing on his own or away from the team completely. When he returned late in the season, he had a terrible time fitting in with the Razorbacks and chemistry took an immediate dip when he returned. Once the NCAA Tournament rolled around, it was hard to put him on the floor because teams intentionally targeted him as a defensive liability.

Eventually Musselman had to keep Smith on the bench for the most part at the end, and NBA executives, seeing his development versus his three NBA caliber peers, dropped him in value significantly. In the end, his inability to shake his AAU ways dropped a projected Top 5 pick all the way to No. 27.

It added to a long list of proof of what happens when players commit to what he's trying to teach. So, while things might have been bleak for Arkansas the majority of this season, there is now hope in the way of a Silver lining. Musselman has been handed a gift, which should make for a very interesting offseason.