Eric Musselman was the right coach for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks.
Not just because he took a team with no height and little depth and won 20 games.
Not because his style put people back in the stands.
He just fits.
Musselman’s enthusiasm and energy were again evident when his first real recruiting class — no coach of any sport has a great recruiting class when he has two or three weeks to put it together — became Razorbacks.
The six signees, four from Arkansas, ranked No. 6 in the nation, and each had something positive to say about their new coach, and about being Razorbacks.
Musselman was quick to point out it was a team effort and not him alone who signed the kids.
Musselman never takes all the credit, but he’s not afraid to take blame.
During the year he’s been at Arkansas, several e-mails have come from people in Nevada where he turned that program around.
All but one were sad to see him leave.
The one didn’t like it that Musselman got so wrapped up in a game that he ripped his shirt off, something UA Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek practically promised would happen again when he announced Musselman as the new coach last year.
That brings to mind one of the videos Musselman has posted on his Twitter account since the season ended.
In one, he’s sitting in the stands like a fan and remarks about not wearing a coat and tie.
That criticism obviously has been heard before.
So he made fun of it. Not the people who want him to look like a banker instead of basketball coach, but just the concept.
His wife, who is as involved with the program as he is (it truly is a family affair), wrote he would never wear a coat and tie.
When he was announced as the head basketball coach last April, Musselman was wearing a suit with a red tie.
Later, he apparently posed for the cover of his first media guide.
He had lost the jacket but still had on the tie.
He looked miserable.
Flip through the guide to his family picture, and he’s in a golf shirt and shorts. He’s smiling. In fact, daughter Mariah, son Michael and Danyelle are all smiling.
Son Matthew missed the photo op, but he was probably smiling, too.
For basketball games, Musselman has a large array of stylish golf style shirts.
If those shirts were available to be bought, there would be a new stream of money coming into the UA athletic department.
Judging by the incoming recruiting class, they don’t care what Musselman wears. They just want to play for him.
Musselman added some height in 6-9 Jaylin Williams from Fort Smith, and 6-9 Vance Jackson, a graduate transfer from New Mexico.
Jalen Tate a 6-6 graduate transfer from Northern Kentucky brings athleticism and experience.
Moses Moody, 6-6, is from North Little Rock but spent the last two years at Montverde (Fla.) Academy where he piloted the No. 1 team to a 25-0 record.
He averaged 11.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists on a team that had three McDonald’s All Americans. Saying he held his own would be an understatement.
Davonte Davis, a 6-4 guard from Jacksonville and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Player of the Year, is multi-talented and tough.
Khalen “KK” Robinson, a 6-foot guard from Bryant who played for nationally known Oak Hill (Va.) Academy last season after leading the Hornets to the state title game, is a threat inside or out.
Plus the door is open for Isaiah Joe and Mason Jones to return.
The future of Razorbacks basketball is bright and it is in the right hands.