Eric Musselman News, Nevada, Bio, Wife, Coaching Career, Championships and Awards

Eric Musselman Biography

Eric Musselman (Eric Patrick Musselman) is an American basketball coach, who is the current head coach at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is the former head coach of the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Between head coaching stints at Golden State and Sacramento, Musselman served as an assistant for the Memphis Grizzlies under Mike Fratello. He moved to the college coaching ranks in 2012 as an assistant at Arizona State. The son of former NBA head coach Bill Musselman, Eric Musselman was a head coach in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) before becoming an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic (under Chuck Daly and Doc Rivers), and Atlanta Hawks (under Lon Kruger).

Eric Musselman Wife

Musselman and his wife Danyelle Sargent, Married in 2009. The couple have a daughter (Mariah Musselman) together. Musselman has two sons (Michael Musselman) and (Matthew Musselman) from his previous marriage.

Eric Musselman Current Position

• Title: Head coach
• Team: Nevada
• Conference: MW (Mountain West Conference)
• Record: 100–30 (.769)

Eric Musselman News

Eric Musselman will likely win his 100th game as Nevada’s head coach tonight when the Wolf Pack hosts Colorado State.

If Nevada does win, Musselman will hit the century mark in just 130 games. That’s right. He’ll be 100-30. That’s impressive. It’s even more impressive given the situation he inherited (three straight losing seasons, a 9-22 record the year prior). I was curious if this was the fastest any coach had hit 100 wins. It is not. It isn’t even the fastest any Wolf Pack coach has reached 100 wins. Mark Fox did it in 128 games, so one quicker than Musselman, assuming Nevada does in fact win tonight.

Here is a look at the five fastest coaches to 100 wins in Division I history.

Fastest to 100 wins
1. Doc Meanwell, Wisconsin & Missouri, 109 games (100-9)

2. Buck Freeman, St. John’s, 110 games (100-10)

3. Adolph Rupp, Kentucky, 116 games (100-16)

4t. Jerry Tarkanian, Long Beach State, 117 games (100-17)

4t. Jim Boeheim, Syracuse, 117 games (100-17)

Musselman’s 130 games to reach 100 wins would be the 27th fastest in Division I history (Fox is tied for the 25th fastest). Of course, not all situations are created equally. Fox inherited a Sweet 16 team that returned Nick Fazekas, Kevin Pinkney, Marcelus Kemp, Kyle Shiloh, and others. Musselman inherited a fire housed within a dumpster (aka a dumpster fire).

The majority of these “Fast to 100” coaches happened before most of us were born. Let’s just take the last 50 years. Over the last 50 years, only nine D-I coaches have reached 100 wins faster than Musselman (again, assuming a win tonight against Colorado State). Here are those coaches along with the schools they did it at.

Fastest to 100 wins last 50 seasons
* Jerry Tarkanian, Long Beach State (117 games)

* Jim Boeheim, Syracuse (117)

* Brad Stevens, Butler (120)

* Denny Crum, Louisville (122)

* Brad Underwood, Stephen F. Austin, Oklahoma State and Illinois (122)

* Mark Few, Gonzaga (126)

* Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh (126)

* Steve Prohm, Murray State (128)

* Mark Fox, Nevada (128)

* Eric Musselman, Nevada (130)

That’s quite the list to join. Worth noting Nevada is the only school to have two coaches on this list. Worth noting that of the nine coaches ahead of Musselman, five have reached a national title game, with three winning at least one championship (that bodes well for Musselman’s future). You could argue Musselman’s route to 100 is the most impressive of these 10 coaches. Why? Here’s a look at each team’s record the season before these coaches took over.

* Jerry Tarkanian, LBSU – 12-13, no postseason (wasn’t a Division I team)

* Jim Boeheim, Syracuse – 20-9, NCAA Tournament (first round)

* Brad Stevens, Butler –29–7, NCAA Tournament (Sweet 16)

* Denny Crum, Louisville – 20-9, NIT (first round)

* Brad Underwood, SFA – 27–5, NIT (first round)

* Mark Few, Gonzaga –28–7, NCAA Tournament (Elite 8)

* Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh – 28-5, NCAA Tournament (Sweet 16)

* Steve Prohm, Murray State –23-9, NIT (first round)

* Mark Fox, Nevada – 25-9, NCAA Tournament (Sweet 16)

* Eric Musselman, Nevada – 9-22, no postseason

This puts it in perspective a little more. Of the nine other coaches to reach 100 wins in their first 130 games in the last 50 seasons, eight inherited 20-win programs. Five of those inherited NCAA Tournament teams, four of them at least advancing to the Sweet 16. Only Tarkanian, whose first year at Long Beach State was at a level below D-I, and Musselman inherited rebuilds. That makes Musselman’s quick route to 100 wins arguably the most impressive of these 10.

Nevada coaches to win 100 games
Here’s a look at the five coaches prior to Musselman to reach 100 wins at Nevada.

1. Jake Lawlor, 204-156 (15 seasons)

2. J.E. Doc Martie, 129-122 (15 seasons)

3. Mark Fox, 123-43 (five seasons)

4. Jack Spencer, 123-199 (13 seasons)

5. Sonny Allen, 114-89 (seven seasons)

6. Eric Musselman, 99-30

Active coach winning percentages
And finally, here is a look at where Musselman ranks among active coaches in career winning percentage.

1. Mark Few, Gonzaga – 553-120 (.822)

2. Roy Williams, North Carolina – 856-231 (.787)

3. John Calipari, Kentucky – 678-202 (.770)

4. Eric Musselman – 99-30 (.767)

5. Mike Krzyzewski, Duke – 1,115-340 (.766)

6. Bill Self, Kansas – 669-204 (.766)

Eric Musselman Coaching Career

• 1989–1990: Rapid City Thrillers
• 1990–1991: Minnesota Timberwolves (asst.)
• 1991–1997: Rapid City Thrillers/Florida Beach Dogs
• 1995–1996: (Summer) Florida Sharks
• 1998–2000: Orlando Magic (asst.)
• 2000–2002: Atlanta Hawks (asst.)
• 2002–2004: Golden State Warriors
• 2004–2006: Memphis Grizzlies (asst.)
• 2006–2007: Sacramento Kings
• 2010–2011: Reno Bighorns
• 2011–2012: Los Angeles D-Fenders
• 2012–2013: Arizona State (asst.)
• 2013–2014: Arizona State (assoc. HC)
• 2014–2015: LSU (assoc. HC)
• 2015–present: Nevada
  International
• 2009: China
• 2010: USA
• 2010–2011: Dominican Republic
• 2011–2013: Venezuela

Eric Musselman Head Coaching Record

Overall

• 100–30 (NCAA)
• 108–138 (NBA)
• 270–122 (CBA)
• 53–3 (USBL)
• 77–30 (D-League)

Eric Musselman Championships

• 2× USBL championships (1995, 1996)
• CBI championship (2016)
• 2× MWC regular season championships (2017, 2018)
• MWC Tournament championship (2017)

Eric Musselman Awards

• NBA D-League Coach of the Year (2012)
• MWC Coach of the Year (2018)

Eric Musselman Current Team

Nevada (2015–present)

On March 25, 2015, the University of Nevada, Reno hired Musselman as head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack men’s basketball team.
In early March 2016, Bleacher Report named Musselman the Mountain West Coach of the Year after guiding the Wolf Pack to an 18-12 record, a 9-win improvement over the previous season. The team’s winning percentage jumped from 31 to 60, which ranked as the 11th best improvement nationally.

Following the 2015–16 season, Nevada was invited to play in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), winning its first three games to improve its season record to 21-12 and advance to the CBI championship series vs Morehead State. According to Chris Murray, a reporter who covered the team for the Reno Gazette-Journal, “No coach in Nevada basketball history has done a better job of getting everything out of the talent on the roster. It might be the best coaching job in Wolf Pack hoops history.”

Nevada’s 2016 recruiting class was ranked as the 35th best in the nation by 247Sports.
Musselman’s 2016-17 Wolf Pack team went 14-4 in conference play to win the Mountain West regular-season title. The team also won the 2017 MWC postseason tournament championship to earn a bid in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Nevada finished 28-7 overall for the season, tied for the second-most wins in school history.

In December 2017, Musselman’s Nevada team was voted to the nation’s top 25, the first time since 2007 that the Wolf Pack had ranked among the top 25 teams nationally. Musselman was named 2017-18 Mountain West Coach of the Year after guiding the Wolf Pack to a 15-3 conference record and the MWC regular-season title. He was also named the Coach of the Year for District 17 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The team set a school record for most wins in a season.

In March 2018, Nevada was announced as an at-large selection for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament as a seventh seed. In their first-round game, the Wolf Pack came back from 14 points down to defeat Texas, 87-83. In Round 2, Nevada rallied from a 22-point deficit to upset second-seeded Cincinnati, 75-73, propelling the Wolf Pack to its second Sweet 16 appearance in school history.

During the 2017-18 season, Nevada finished 12-3 in true road games. Those 12 victories were a single-season school record and tied for most in the country.

On September 5th, 2018, the Nevada athletics department announced today season tickets for the upcoming men’s basketball season were officially sold out.
To start the 2018-19 season, Nevada was ranked #7 in the preseason Associated Press poll and #9 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. It is the highest ranking in school history for the Wolf Pack. The previous top ranking was #9 on Feb. 26, 2007. Additionally, the #7 ranking was the highest preseason ranking in Mountain West Conference history.