University of Nevada Athletics

 










        

    In year three head coach Eric Musselman led the Nevada basketball program to a place it had not been since 2004 reaching the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for just the second time in school history.  The Wolf Pack fell just a point short of reaching the Elite 8 for the first time, falling 69-68 to Loyola Chicago, a team they will play in 2018-19.  The Pack went 29-8 on the season and tied the school record with the 29 wins.  
    Nevada became just the second conference school to win back-to-back outright regular MW season titles with BYU being the first in 2007 and 2008.  The Wolf Pack were just the second MW school, joining SDSU to reach the Sweet 16.  The Pack’s appearance in the NCAA Tournament was the second in a row and eighth in school history.
    Musselman earned four coach of the year honors after the Pack’s successful season; MW coaches and media, USBWA District VIII and NABC District 17.
    In addition to Musselman earning numerous honors several of the players hauled in top honors after the outstanding season.  Caleb Martin garnered Associated Press honorable mention All-American, MW Player of the Year, MW Newcomer of the Year, MW first team, USBWA District VIII Player of the Year, USBWA VIII team and first-team NABC District 17 honors in his junior campaign.
    Jordan Caroline was selected to the MW first team, USBWA District VIII team, NABC District 17 first team and to the MW Tournament team.
    Cody Martin earned MW Defensive Player of the Year honors, was selected the MW second team and the MW Defensive team.  Kendall Stephens earned third-team MW honors after setting the conference and school record with 126 made 3-pointers.  Lindsey Drew joined Caleb Martin on the MW Defensive team.  All but Stephens will return for their senior campaigns in 2018-19.
    Musselman has led the Pack to 24, 28 and 29 win seasons in his first three years on campus and the 81 wins is ninth most at Nevada.  He joins Mark Fox (2004-09) as the only Nevada coaches to win 20 or more games in three consecutive years and in their first three years at the helm.  Fox accomplished the feat in all five of his seasons at Nevada.   
    In year two Musselman led the Pack to its first MW regular season and tournament titles.  With the tournament title Nevada earned its first NCAA Tournament birth in a decade.  The Pack went 28-7 and 14-4 in conference play.  The 28 wins is tied for the second most in program history    
    The regular season title marked the first since the 2011-12 season and the tournament title was the first since 2005-06. The success did not go unrecognized as Musselman was named the USBWA District VIII Coach of the Year.
    Under Musselman, several Wolf Pack players earned postseason honors in his second season. Senior Marcus Marshall was named to the All-Mountain West first team by both the conference coaches and media after breaking the then Nevada single season record with 115 threes made. Marshall was named the Newcomer of the Year in both polls.
    Sophomore Cameron Oliver earned first team honors from the Mountain West media and second team honors from the conference coaches. Caroline earned second team honors in both polls and was the MW Tournametn MVP.  Senior D.J. Fenner earned second team honors from the coaches and third team honors from the media.  
    In his first season at Nevada Musselman changed the culture of the men’s basketball team.  Musselman led the Wolf Pack to a 24-14 record and the College Basketball Invitational Championship.  The 85-82 overtime CBI Championship victory over Morehead State came on Apr. 1, marking the only time a Wolf Pack basketball team had played a game in the month of April.  BleacherReport named him their Mountain West Coach of the Year.  It was the first postseason title for a Nevada and a MW school.
    The 24 wins is the fifth most in season at Nevada.  Musselman’s first collegiate win was 73-56 over Coastal Carolina in a tournament played in Hawaii.  The Pack’s 15-win improvement from nine wins to 24 ranked the team as the sixth most improved NCAA I squad in the country.   
    Three members of the Pack earned postseason honors under his direction.  Senior Marqueze Coleman earned second-team All-MW honors from the coaches and media.  Coleman was also named to the NABC District 17 team.  Fellow senior Tyron Criswell was selected as the MW Sixth Man of the Year by the conference media.  Criswell ended his final campaign being named the MVP of the CBI.
    Freshman Cameron Oliver had one of the best seasons by a Pack freshman breaking the Nevada record, school freshman mark and MW freshman record with his 99 blocks.  Oliver was selected as the Freshman of the Year by the MW media and to their All-MW second team.   The conference coaches named him to their defensive team and third team.  After back-to-back double-doubles at the MW Championships he was named to the All-MW Tournament team.  He was the only player on the squad that did not play in the title game.
    Nevada is Musselman’s first collegiate head coaching position but he has been a head coach for seven professional teams, including two seasons with the Golden State Warriors (2002-04) and one with the Sacramento Kings (2006-07). He has won more than 500 games as a head coach with an overall winning percentage of .625 (566-340).
    The 53-year old Musselman spent three seasons as an assistant coach at power five schools, Arizona State and LSU. In 2013 the Sun Devils advanced to the second round of the NIT and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2014. The 2015 Tiger squad also advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
    The 2013 ASU squad improved by 12 wins and advanced to postseason play for the first time in three years. He was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2013-14 season.
    While at ASU, Musselman coached 2013 second-round NBA selection Carrick Felix, 2012-13 Pac-12 co-Freshman of the Year Jahii Carson and Jordan Bachynski who led the nation in blocks in 2013-14.
    In his only season at LSU, he coached two first-team All-SEC selections in Jarrell Martin and Jordan Mickey. Mickey was also selected to the SEC All-Defensive team.
    Musselman returns to Reno where he spent the 2010-11 season coaching the NBA D-Leagues Bighorns and led them to their first Western Conference title in franchise history.
    The Ashland, Ohio native is one of several former NBA head coaches working in NCAA basketball. He joins John Calipari (Kentucky), Lon Kruger (Oklahoma), Larry Krystkowiak (Utah), Mike Dunlap (LMU), Avery Johnson (Alabama), Mike Dunleavy (Tulane), Leonard Hamilton (Florida State) and Chris Mullin (St. John’s) as just a few to make the transition from NBA head coach to college head coach.
    Musselman’s father Bill was also an NBA head coach and they were the first father-son combination to become head coaches in the NBA. Bill also coached the Reno Bighorns of the CBA in 1978-79.
    Musselman’s first head coaching job came at the age of 23 when he was hired by the Rapid City Thrillers of the Continental Basketball Association in 1989. He was the youngest coach in CBA history and the fastest to win 100 games.
    Musselman has served as a head coach in the CBA, the United States Basketball League (USBL) and the NBADL along with the two NBA head coaching stops. His teams have collected six division titles and have advanced to the postseason seven times. He has coached 24 players that went on to play in the NBA. Five times he was named CBA all-star coach.
    He led the USBL Florida Sharks to a 53-3 record in two seasons and a league championship which earned him USBL Coach of the Year honors.
    After working as an assistant under Doc Rivers and Hall of Fame coach Chuck Daly, he was named the head coach of the Golden State Warriors in 2002. He led the Warriors to 38 wins, a team-high in more than 10 years, and was runner-up in the NBA Coach of Year voting. He also coached the Warriors during the 2003-04 season.
    Following a year as an assistant with the Memphis Grizzlies under Mike Fratello, he coached the Sacramento Kings for the 2006-07 season.
        Musselman worked as an analyst on radio and television prior to coaching the Reno Bighorns (2010-11) and LA D-Fenders (2011-12) of the NBADL. In 2012 he earned Coach of the Year honors.
        While coaching the Reno Bighorns in NBADL he worked with Jeremy Lin, Danny Green and Steve Novak who were called up to the NBA. Gerald Green, Malcom Thomas, Darius Morris, Jamario Moon and Courtney Fortson earned trips to the NBA when he coached them with the D-Fenders.
    Musselman has experience coaching international basketball having served as the head coach of the Dominican Republic National Team (2010-11), The US and Team China in the Adidas Global Experience (2009, 2010) and The Venezuela National Team (2011-13).
    Born in Ashland, Ohio he attended high school in Brecksville south of Cleveland. He attended the University of San Diego and helped the Toreros to a 24-6 record as a senior and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. USD lost in the first round to Auburn. While at USD he was named to the West Coast Conference All-Academic team three times and the Toreros played in two NCAA Tournaments.
    Musselman is married to Danyelle Sargent Musselman who has worked at ESPN, Fox Sports and the NFL Network as a broadcaster. Musselman has two sons Michael (22) and Matthew (17) and the couple has a daughter Mariah (8).
    Michael, a 2018 graduate of San Diego, has joined his father’s staff at Nevada as a graduate assistant.  He joins the Musselman family tree of legendary coaches along with his father and grandfather.

 

Year	Record	Mountain West	MW Tournament	Postseason
2015-16	24-14	10-8 MW(T4th	1-1 MW Tournament	5-1 CBI (Champions)
2016-17	28-7	14-4 MW(1st)*	3-0 MW Tournament	0-1 (NCAA Trny)
2017-18	29-8	15-3 MW (1st)^	1-1 MW Tournament	2-1 (NCAA Trny)(Sweet 16)
Totals	81-29	39-15 MW	5-2 MW Tournament	7-3

*2016-17 MW regular season and tournament champions
^2017-18 MW regular season champions