Eric Musselman to interview for vacant head coaching job at Cal

Nevada head coach Eric Musselman is planning to interview for the vacant head coaching position at the University of California at Berkeley.

This was first reported by Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz who sent out news of the Musselman’s interview at Cal via a tweet.

Other coaches that were included in Schultz’s tweet that are rumored to be interviewing for the Cal opening are Montana head coach Travis DeCuire, UC Irvine head coach Russell Turner and UC Davis coach Jim Less.

Other potential candidates for the vacancy at Cal are Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennet, ex-Nevada Wolf Pack assistant and current Florida State assistant coach Dennis Gates who is a Cal alum, Arizona assistant coach Joe Pasternack, San Francisco head coach Kyle Smith and former UCLA and St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin who is currently an analyst on Fox Sports and CBS.

The Cal job became open when Cuonzo Martin left to take the head coaching job at Missouri last week. In three seasons at Cal, Martin went 62-39 and guided Cal to one NCAA tournament appearance and one NIT appearance during his time at Berkley.

Musselman has just finished up his second season as head coach of the Wolf Pack. After taking over a program that went 9-22 the season before he arrived in Reno, Musselman has compiled a 52-21 and has led the Wolf Pack to a CBI title in his first season and a Mountain West regular season and tournament title in his second season while taking the Wolf Pack to the NCAAs for the first time since 2007. In the tournament, the Wolf Pack put up a valiant effort but fell to the Iowa State Cyclones 84-73 in the first round of the tournament last Thursday.

A possible issue with Musselman being linked to the Cal job is him hiring current assistant Yanni Hufnagel last year. Hufnagel was an assistant at Cal last season under Martin but was let go by the school on the eve of last year’s NCAA tournament after an investigation by the school in regards to an allegation that Hufnagel sexually harassed a reporter. Hufnagel had challenged the allegation before stepping down and taking the assistant job with Musselman at Nevada.

Musselman is currently on a five-year deal that pays him $400,000 a year. Nevada is working with him to get a contract extension that may net him more money. It is in his contract that should Musselman leave Nevada before September 1^st, he owes the school more than million dollars so that could be a factor in whether Musselman leaves Nevada for California or not.

When asked about other schools coming after him for their vacant coaching jobs, Mussleman said that he is happy where he is currently.

“I’m happy and my wife is happy”, Musselman said after the Wolf Pack won the MW Tournament Championship back on March 11th. “President Johnson and Doug Knuth gave me an opportunity when no one else would and trust in our vision”. Musselman went on to say “I’m happy I get to drive over and watch my son play high school basketball. My other son (who goes to the University of San Diego) can jump on a flight and see me in 45 minutes. And my wife is involved and she does too much, actually, in the community. So it’s all good.”