Every coach that takes a new job has to rally lots of support as their tenure begins. That’s been the case for Eric Musselman out in Los Angeles who says that the Trojan faithful and donors have more than shown it so far through NIL.
Musselman discussed the monetary backing since he has arrived at USC during a media availability at a practice in the last week. Simply put, their new-look staff has had nothing to worry about on that front since they arrival in Hollywood.
“Yeah, I think it has been great – yeah,” said Mussleman. “No complaints.”
NIL remains something that each and every program are having to weigh and adapt to. That includes Musselman who is all-in on that aspect of the game at this point.
“I think all of us at any school? People have their own thought process on it,” Musselman said. “I think it’s great. You know, should have been happening probably a while ago.”
“It’s ever evolving – by the minute, by the day. Numbers have changed by the day and you’ve just got to be adjustable,” added Musselman.
USC has several different collectives at work for their programs out in LA. That list includes BLVD LLC, Conquest Collective, House of Victory, and The TOMMY Group.
It’s safe to say that support in those area among others have made it easier for Musselman to adjust and prepare for his debut season with the Trojans. Upon his arrival, he had to put together an all-new roster after losing six to the portal and a handful to the 2024 NBA Draft.
Since then, Musselman has fielded that new team with several players. 11 of those came in from the transfer portal as part of a Top-15 class per On3’s 2024 Team Transfer Portal Rankings. Two more, SG Isaiah Elohim and SF Jalen Shelley, are coming in as four-star, Top-75 freshmen that make up a Top-20 recruiting class themselves.
Backing in NIL is a necessary facet of any collegiate program, especially when it’s under new management. Thankfully for Musselman, it sounds like he has exactly that and more to start out with at USC.
“The support here has been phenomenal,” said Musselman. “No complaints at all from any of us at all other than just being super appreciative because it’s hard to raise money anyway.”
Musselman shares process of building roster at USC
The USC Trojans have a new head coach with Eric Musselman taking over. With that has also come plenty of roster turnover this offseason.
Amid that turnover, Musselman has needed to rebuild the roster. That’s a process that he recently shared some insight into.
“For us, we try to start with high quality, high character guys,” Eric Musselman said. “At USC, there’s the academic piece as well. Our pool of recruits is different than maybe other places that I’ve been. So I think that that is an added piece to the recruiting process here.”
“We wanted guys that really wanted to be here. Then, from a stylistic, we wanted guys who could play multiple positions. We felt, in year one, it was super important that we had versatility, guys 6-foot-5, 6-foot-6, 6-foot-7. We do have some duplications of that. Some guys are going to have to play out of position.”
Musselman went on to explain that USC still has holes to fill. In particular, the team needs to figure out its depth at both center and point guard going into the 2024-25 season.
“We’re probably a little thin at two really important positions – meaning up front at the center spot and point guard – where, those two spots, we don’t have a lot of numbers. We’re gonna have to get a third or fourth guy who can play the point in case foul trouble and it’s going to be a unique experience for that player because I don’t know if it’s Jalen Shelley who’s been a high school four-man or if it’s Matt Knowling who’s played the four at Yale,” Musselman said.
“We don’t really know. We’re gonna kind of experiment with that.”
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