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Tuesday night it seemed more and more likely that Nevada Wolf Pack head coach Eric Musselman would be on his way out and take the vacant position with the Cal Bears.
He was the only known candidate to interview twice for the job, but multiple reports on Wednesday morning said that Musselman took his name out of consideration for the Cal Job.
Musselman was considered the front runner for the job to take over for Cuonzo Martin who left to take over the Missouri basketball program.
Cal was informed Wednesday morning of Muss's decision. Musselman was frontrunner throughout process. Interesting to see where Cal goes now.
— Chris Murray (@MurrayRGJ) March 22, 2017
There were rumblings that Cal coaching search was erratic and likely not something that Musselman wanted to be a part of as the Golden Bears head coach.
Source confirms Coach Musselman is staying at Nevada. Sounds like Cal search process was very off-putting. That circus was not appealing.
— Chris Murray (@MurrayRGJ) March 22, 2017
This is obviously a big deal for Nevada to keep Musselman as its head coach as there is a lot of talent returning in juniors-to-be and All-Mountain West players Jordan Caroline and Cameron Oliver. However, Oliver could take another look at the NBA. Last year he put his name in the running but did not hire an agent; the Boston Celtics were the only team to consider him. This time around he is considered a second-round pick if he were to come out.
Musselman turned around this Nevada program that went 9-25 in the year prior to his hire and turned that into a CBI championship and going 24-14 — that win total actually equaled the two years prior combined to Musselman taking over. Then this year he won the Mountain West regular season and conference tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
“He’s a very successful and attractive coach," Nevada athletics director Doug Knuth said via the Reno Gazette-Journal. "When we win at our level, the Power 5 guys pay attention. They take a look at our coaches and if they like them they can usually afford to hire them away. We’re doing everything we can to make sure Muss stays with us and stays happy here. He means a lot to our community, he means a lot to our department and he means a lot to our basketball program. We want him to stay here and stay here with us for a long time.”
The current contract that Musselman has pays him $400,000 per year for the next three years out of a five-year deal. The school just announced that a contract in principle has been reached between Musselman and the university, but specific details were not provided.