Eric Musselman explains why he takes his shirt off in big moments

Eric Musselman is a great coach. He’s proven that at multiple stops now. This year, he has Arkansas Razorbacks in the Sweet Sixteen, looking to get to a third straight Elite Eight. However, the 58-year-old coach also has eccentricities. For instance, Musselman likes to celebrate with his shirt off.

Where this comes from and why Musselman is comfortable with his shirt off is actually something he explained.

“I’m going to go back to like when you live in San Diego, like, a lot of times you don’t have your shirt on, especially if you grow up in Bird Rock or La Jolla and you’re riding the boardwalk,” Eric Musselman said. “But in all seriousness, it happened at Nevada. I don’t know how or why. I was not planning on doing it the other night. But one of our hosts was kind of begging me, even after the first game. He was one of the guys that walked us around.”

The most recent time that Eric Musselman took his top off was in the round of 32 when Arkansas beat Kansas. As he explained, it sometimes comes down to emotions.

“And so, I mean, I guess my emotions got the best of me. My wife’s not always happy about that. But it’s not something that we plan on doing all the time. It just kind of — emotions run through you. And I guess you get a certain age and you just kind of do it just because.”

Getting a win in the Sweet Sixteen is likely a good time for Musselman to take his shirt off, so don’t be surprised to see him pop it off if the Razorbacks beat UConn to move onto the Elite Eight.

Eric Musselman on the transfer portal

Eric Musselman is a big fan of the transfer portal, saying that he wouldn’t be where he is without it.

“I promise I wouldn’t be sitting here if it wasn’t for the transfer portal. I kind of felt like at Nevada we were at the forefront of the transfer portal. Really interesting because eight years ago when somebody was transferring, the process was a lot different,” Musselman said.

“You had to go through your compliance office and there was a lot of paperwork involved. And I can promise you there was not much competition. The competition now for transfers is as fierce as any recruiting landscape that you could be a part of. But it was not that way for three years, especially because guys had to sit out.”