No shirt, no problem for Eric Musselman’s Arkansas players

It might be simple to imagine the wild shirtless celebrations which have come to be a trademark of massive wins are Eric Musselman’s emotional peak on show.

His Arkansas gamers, nonetheless, will let you know that’s simply regular conduct from their coach.

“He’s loopy,” senior ahead Kamani Johnson stated. “What you see on TV, that’s him for certain, Shirt off, leaping round. He’s like that at 8 within the morning when he’s on the treadmill. That’s simply Muss. Excessive power. However I can’t say sufficient concerning the journey I’ve been on with him since I’ve performed for him. It’s been actually, actually enjoyable.”

That journey has led Arkansas to the Candy 16 of the NCAA Event. The eighth-seeded Razorbacks will play fourth-seeded Connecticut in a 4:15 p.m. West Regional semifinal Thursday at T-Cell Enviornment.

Arkansas has received on this spherical every of the previous two seasons solely to come back one victory in need of the Last 4. Musselman hopes that is the yr his group lastly will get over the hump.

To do it, the Razorbacks should defeat Connecticut after which UCLA or Gonzaga on Saturday.

Ought to they accomplish it, likelihood is Musselman’s naked chest will make an look, because it did Saturday after a 72-71 win over defending nationwide champion Kansas.

“While you develop up in San Diego, numerous occasions you don’t have your shirt on, particularly if you happen to develop up in Chook Rock or La Jolla and also you’re using the boardwalk,” Musselman stated after his group practiced Wednesday at T-Cell Enviornment. “My spouse’s not at all times completely happy about it, but it surely’s not one thing that we plan on doing on a regular basis. Feelings simply run by means of you. And I assume you get to a sure age and also you simply type of do it simply because.”

The custom started when Musselman was UNR’s coach and the Wolf Pack received the School Basketball Invitational. As he was altering from his costume shirt to the championship T-shirt, he was pulled into the victory celebration with no shirt on.

Then it grew to become a factor at any time when his groups received a giant recreation. However that’s not the one factor he has taken from his days in Reno.

Musselman, 58, was an early adaptor to the brand new world of the switch portal. He rapidly constructed his roster and reloaded with high-level gamers from different applications earlier than others discovered how one can navigate the method.

“I promise I wouldn’t be sitting right here (with an SEC job) if it wasn’t for the switch portal,” he stated. “I type of felt like at (UNR) we had been on the forefront of the switch portal. I do know for a undeniable fact that I might by no means have been the coach at Arkansas if it wasn’t for … guys that had transferred from Energy 5 colleges to the Mountain West.”

Arkansas’ roster contains six Division I transfers, together with main scorer Ricky Council IV from Wichita State. Arkansas was thought-about a nationwide title contender early within the season solely to wrestle by means of stretches due to accidents and inconsistency. Now, with potential lottery decide Nick Smith again and making an attempt to regain his type, the Razorbacks are once more proving to be a menace after eliminating Illinois and top-seeded Kansas.

A visit to the Last 4 would delight Johnson, even when it means seeing his coach’s naked chest once more.

“I at all times say a cheerful Muss is a cheerful us,” stated Johnson, laughing. “Extra shirt off is sweet for us.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Comply with @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.