Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- uschoops@usc.edu
Michael Musselman enters his second season as an assistant coach at USC during the 2025-26, helping to guide the Trojans during their first season in the Big Ten Conference.Â
Before arriving in Los Angeles, Musselman was on the staff for five seasons at the University of Arkansas, working his way up to becoming an assistant coach in the 2023-24 season. He started with the Razorbacks as the director of recruiting in 2019-20, before being named the assistant director of basketball operations for the 2020-21 season. He was eventually promoted to the director of operations for the 2022-23 season.Â
While advancing through the ranks, Musselman played a crucial role in recruiting for the Razorbacks, helping the coaching staff secure the second-best recruiting class in the country in 2022. This class was highlighted by six players ranked among the ESPN and SI.com Top 100, including three McDonald’s All-Americans in Nick Smith Jr., Jordan Walsh and Anthony Black. Those three were all selected in the Top 40 of the 2023 NBA Draft. Arkansas was one of two college programs to have three players selected in the 2023 NBA Draft and the only one with two or more players selected in the Top 40.
The year before, the Razorbacks brought in four transfers that were instrumental to the team’s second-straight Elite Eight run. Arkansas also finished that season eight in the AP Coaches Poll.Â
In Musselman’s first year guiding the recruiting efforts, Arkansas had the fifth-best recruiting class, securing Top 40 prospects in Moses Moody and Khalen Robinson. They also locked down two four-star recruits in Davonte Davis and Jaylin Williams, who were the co-Arkansas High School Players of the Year. This is also when Musselman began his work in the transfer portal, bringing in three high-caliber graduate students. This same year, Moody secured SEC Freshman of the Year, All-SEC First Team and All-America honors before being selected 14th in the NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors.Â
Over his five seasons at Arkansas, he helped propel the Razorbacks to levels they had not reached in 25 years, making back-to-back Elite 8 appearances, a Sweet 16 run and winning 20 or more games four times.
In addition to his growth while with the Razorbacks, Musselman also served on the staff for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2023 NBA Summer League team, which won the NBA Summer League championship.
Before Arkansas, Musselman spent the 2018-19 season as a graduate assistant at Nevada, helping the team win 29 games, a Mountain West Championship and earn an NCAA Tournament berth.Â
His college basketball experience began as a student manager at his alma mater, the University of San Diego. In his four years with the Toreros, he assisted the team in practice sessions, scouting reports, film editing and statistical analysis.Â
Musselman continues the coaching legacy that was started by his grandfather, Bill Musselman, and continued by his father, Eric Musselman, who is the current head coach at USC.Â
He graduated with his bachelor’s degree in communications and a minor in business administration from the University of San Diego in 2018. Musselman also earned his master’s degree in educational leadership from Nevada in 2019.
