Eric Musselman-Gonzaga — Kelley L. Cox / USA TODAY Sports

One Moment Next to an Interstate Proved Arkansas Carries the Coaching Advantage

When it comes to NCAA Tournament Preparation, there's Eric Musselman, and then there's everyone else

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Mar 17, 2023 12:56 PM EDT
Original:
Mar 15, 2023

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

Illinois Fighting Illini

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Razorback head coach Eric Musselman stood outside of Walk-Ons, a sports bar just down the road from from the University of Arkansas campus.

The sound of cars pouring up and down I-49 and across Weddington Road made for a less than ideal setting, but out here was a better setting than the loud cacophony of voices, clinking glasses and plate-scraping forks that would have drowned the coach out inside.

Musselman sported a white Razorback t-shirt with a black Nike swoosh dangling just above the red Arkansas logo. That he wore only this was more of a testament to his well-known disdain for jackets than it was a sign that the cold, dreary weather that had gripped the area for the past several weeks was now gone.

His right hand clutched a set of papers tightly while cameramen around him jostled for the proper position to include a white "Let's Dance" sign laden with small Arkansas red light bulbs.

The questions were as expected for a Selection Sunday event and came with a certain rhythm familiar to Arkansas fans and reporters alike from the nearly 100 times it had already happened since this version of the Razorbacks first officially came together for a trip to Europe back in early August.

Yet, there it was, sandwiched neatly between the generic talk of "really well coached" and "obviously anyone who makes the NCAA Tournament is a quality team."

Just 15 seconds into his media session Musselman dropped the first hint as to what has made him one of the top NCAA Tournament coaches of his generation.

"[Illinois has] some guys that we've played before like Terrance Shannon who was at Texas Tech and obviously Matthew Mayer played at Baylor," Musselman said. "They've got some really good transfers and it's an excellent shot blocking team."

Such a comment would normally be quite innocuous, but, in context, it says so much. Just a few seconds earlier, Musselman was inside with his team watching the announcement of the Razorbacks' seeding and opponent.

Now, he's outside speaking about specific players on a team with which he would admit a minute later he has zero history. Plus, he already knows one of the Illini's primary strengths.

But that was just the lightest taste of what's been going on. Musselman later explained, he and assistant coach Anthony Ruta had narrowed down the possibilities of potential opponents to Illinois and one other team Musselman chose not to disclose.

When asked if the Razorbacks might already have a head start on prepping for the Illini, Musselman raised that right hand full of tightly clenched papers as a sly smile slid across his face.

"I got the depth chart, I've got the highlighted box scores, conference box scores," Musselman said with the air of a proud parent showing off his kid after winning the science fair. "So yeah, some of us have been meeting for a long time this morning."

That's right. Before the game was even announced, Musselman knew the roster and had been pouring over box scores and the Illinois depth charts.

And as soon as he could shake the reporters, he headed off to execute the next phase of his plan.

"We'll leave here right now and start our breakdown with our coaching staff on their style and what they do offensively, defensively, what they do on special teams, sideline out of bounds, baseline out of bounds," Musselman said. "Then we'll start formulating a game plan tonight."

A couple of days later, when Arkansas knocked off Illinois for a shot at No. 1 seed Kansas, he let his players celebrate for about 30 seconds before he turned their attention to a Kansas depth chart his coaches had already prepared.

Even though the odds are stacked against this team more than any other Razorback team of the Musselman era, the Arkansas coach is working hard to make sure he gets more out of his potential preparation time than any other coach in the tournament.

If somehow Arkansas can win the national championship, it will tie the 1985 Villanova team as the lowest seed to ever do so.

However, if the Razorbacks fail, no matter the round, it won't be because they weren't properly prepared for whatever took them down.

There are NCAA Tournament coaches, and then there's Musselman.

Whether it's on the side of a road next to a sports bar or in a far away arena in Buffalo, as long as he's the coach, Arkansas will always have the decided advantage when it comes to the game before the game.

All that's left now is to see whether this team is good enough to do something with that advantage.