BENTONVILLE — One of the most important stretches of Arkansas basketball’s 2022-23 season has begun.
Eric Musselman, entering his fourth season in charge of the program, has welcomed to campus a host of newcomers both from the high school ranks and NCAA transfer portal. All but two players — Jordan Walsh and Anthony Black — arrived in Fayetteville over the weekend.
The group joined the team’s scholarship returnees in guard Davonte Davis and forward Kamani Johnson ahead of summer workouts. Together, they will embark on their unique journey.
During Memorial Day weekend, an ice-breaker event at Musselman's home that included a dance contest kicked things off. All involved hope the venture comes to a close next April in Houston holding high the program’s first national championship trophy since 1994.
“Creating a team with us really starts in the summer,” Musselman said during a Walton Family Foundation teamwork seminar on May 18 at Record Downtown. “We’ve got to have an incredible 4-5 months before we ever get on the floor, understanding strengths and weaknesses on the court and off the floor.”
For 45 minutes, Musselman, seated to the left of hall of fame center Dikembe Mutombo, fielded questions from a moderator in regards to team building exercises and related plans of action that have resulted in back-to-back runs to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and great success at the college level.
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Before an audience of those who make up and run local businesses and attentive high school basketball coaches and players, he peeled back the curtain on techniques used to manage morale, individuals and groups, and positively impact buy-in on a common goal. When asked about overseeing a team’s spirit as it battles adversity, Musselman charmed before delivering perspective.
“Well, that was every NBA team I had,” he joked. “At Arkansas the last two years we’ve had pockets of a season where we struggle and everyone thinks we’re never going to win another game. It’s how do you get better the next day? Everybody should want to improve at your job. For us, it’s how you get better as a ball handler, a shooter, so you’ve got to individually want to improve on a daily basis. Then as a team, you’ve got to want to improve as a team.
“I think if you can kind of keep those blinders on even if you’re struggling, you’ve got to believe that at the end of a season that you’re going to maximize whatever potential you have. Every single team every year has a different ceiling on their potential and floors on their potential.
“How you can hit your head on that ceiling is what we always talk about as a team.”
The Razorbacks will open next season with a level of expectation not seen since the program’s heyday in the 1990s. It comes with the territory of prior success, bringing in the nation’s No. 2 recruiting class — featuring the No. 1 player in the country, according to 247 Sports, in Nick Smith Jr. — and a talented crop of gets from the transfer portal.
Musselman, obviously, welcomes the hype and way-too-early rankings his team has found itself inside the top 10 of. But well before the prognostications can even be considered to potentially come to fruition, all of the pieces have to fit.
Frank, honest conversations are paramount in roster construction. Musselman first makes certain a player’s vision aligns with that of the staff and program, and that they are like-minded in terms of goals. Once a team is built, it then must become one through bonding, develop chemistry and an appreciation for all of its parts.
Arkansas appears to have plenty of capable parts up and down its roster.
“Everybody on the team has a strength and has their role,” Musselman said. “And you can’t let jealousy slip into the locker room, because it’s only natural. It could be a guy coming off the bench. He could think that he needs to start. It could be a second-leading scorer who wants to be the leading scorer. It could be the 13th man who thinks he should be in the eight-man rotation.
“The group has got to understand that none of us can succeed without everyone. How do you keep everybody on the same page? Not allow any jealousy to creep into the team. And then accept who you are and what you do in that given year or on that given team.”
The same can be said for a coaching staff.
Musselman is far more often than not the face of the Razorbacks ahead of and after a game — win or lose — and answers questions from media members. His quotes are circulated in print, online and on television, but he credits the work of assistant coaches and those behind the scenes, such as video coordinators, for success experienced.
He also provides opportunity in staff meetings for members to contribute ideas. Most mornings, a think tank takes place and thoughts are bounced around and seized on. It is a collaborative effort, an example of the staff’s cohesion.
In turn, it often benefits the team on the floor.
“You’ve got to give them a voice, and then you’ve got to listen to them. You can’t have somebody speak in a staff meeting and say, ‘Well, I have more experience than that person,’ or, ‘I’m older than that person,’ or, ‘I’m smarter than that person,’” Musselman said. “Everybody’s got some gift that God has blessed them with. Some people might not be real book smart, but if you stuck them in a foreign country and you told them they had no money but they had to figure out how to get back here in 24 hours, some of the book smart people, they’d never get back here.
“Some of the street smart people would find out how to get back here quicker than anybody. I think you just need to have great respect for everybody you’re working with and just listen, because it’s incredible how many people can give you great ideas.”
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Musselman was also prompted for methods in managing a star player. Throughout his career he has coached and mentored many star-caliber talents. The upcoming season will likely be no different, and Smith, described by the coach in April as an Alpha-type personality, is a sure-fire candidate to play that role.
Stars, Musselman said, are wired differently. They possess an uncommon, next-level mentality and inner confidence that is apparent on the surface. He has been a part of and led teams whose supposed star is detached from teammates, and vice versa.
And in some cases Musselman has witnessed staff inability to meet the issue head on, allowing it to fester and cause further internal strife. At Arkansas, Musselman has had at least one star on each of his rosters. They have been little to no maintenance.
Mason Jones, Moses Moody and JD Notae have all spoken to the demanding nature of Musselman but glowingly of his motives and big-picture intentions. Leadership begins at the top and trickles down. It is true of a coaching staff and among players.
“If you’ve got a star player, he’s got to understand the importance of all the surrounding pieces,” he said. “If it’s the leading scorer, he’s got to have great respect for the guy setting a screen for him. He’s got to have great respect for the guy passing the ball to him. And then you have to get this star player to acknowledge them — not just on the court or in the locker room, but acknowledge them through the media.
“On a team, somebody has got to do what we would call the dirty work or the work that’s not popular, or maybe the work that’s not getting paid like somebody else. In order to do that, all these pieces have to come together.”