Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1425851
4 2021 NWA COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEW | 11.7.2021 ALL THE FUSS ABOUT MUSS MUSSELMAN WORKED HIS WAY UP FROM TICKET SALES TO ELITE COACH BOB HOLT ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE FAYETTEVILLE — Before Eric Musselman got into coaching, his first job in pro basketball was selling tickets for the Los Angeles Clippers. Musselman thought he was being hired as director of player personnel for the Clippers after graduating from the University of San Diego in 1987, but found out that at first he had to work in ticket sales. "And that was not an easy sell in Los Angeles at that particular time," Musselman said. "If you look at the year I sold tickets for, which was 1987-88, they were not very good." The Clippers finished 17-65 in the 1987-88 season, but they were even worse in 1986-87 — 12-70 — which was the season off which Musselman was selling tickets. Despite the Clippers' record, Musselman managed to sell enough tickets to get recognized by the team for his efforts before he focused on evaluating players and being an assistant to General Manager Elgin Baylor. Musselman recalled leading the account executives in ticket sales. "I take pride in that," he said. "Got a little bonus as well." More than 30 years later, Musselman has proven he still has a gift for selling tickets, though this time the product he's promoting is far more attractive than the Clippers of the 1980s. Going into Musselman's third season as the University of Arkansas coach, the Razorbacks are sold out of season tickets for home games at spacious Walton Arena. More than 14,500 season tickets have been sold according to an Arkansas spokesman, and single-game and mini- game packages won't be offered. Walton Arena has a listed capacity of 19,200, but the season ticket sales don't include student tickets, an allotment for visiting teams and seating areas for the band and media as well as extra tickets for the suites. It's the first time season tickets have sold out for the Razorbacks' games since the 2001-02 season. "It's great," said Arkansas junior Connor Vanover, who is from Little Rock. "I really still can't fathom it. "Growing up being a Razorback fan, to know that every single game we play at home is going to be sold out is great." When Vanover redshirted during Musselman's first season of 2019-20 after transferring from California, the Razorbacks sold out four games against Kentucky, TCU, Mississippi State and Missouri. "Now we'll probably have that many people for most of the games this year," Vanover said. "It's really exciting to see our program change and be on the rise as we look for bigger and better things ahead." Fan excitement after Arkansas finished 25-7 last season and reached the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight for the first time since 1995 was an obvious driving force behind the sellouts. Expectations are also high with Arkansas being ranked in the preseason Associated Press poll — at No. 16 — for the first time since the 2007-08 season. The Razorbacks are ranked No. 15 in the preseason USA Today Coaches' Poll and No. 13 by Blue Ribbon. "I think the Elite Eight run had a lot to do with it," Musselman said of the season tickets selling out. "Hopefully the fans respect our style of play as well." Winning is the best way to sell tickets, but Musselman has aggressively marketed the program since becoming a coach. "He's a dream from a marketing standpoint," Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek said. "He is always pushing things out on social media. "Plus coming off the Elite Eight and being ranked 16th in the country, our basketball program is headed in the right direction for sure." No college coach is more active on social media than Musselman and he never misses an opportunity to promote the Razorbacks. "I do think that our job as a coach is to win games, graduate players, prepare guys for life, and also market," Musselman said. "And our job is to try to help fill buildings." Musselman learned about marketing from his father, the late Bill Musselman, a longtime college and pro coach in the ABA and NBA. "I grew up watching my dad sell out Williams Arena," Musselman said of his father's tenure at the University of Minnesota in the early 1970s. "Then they had to closed-circuit TV the games in the hockey arena when men's basketball was playing." Musselman said he also knew coaching in the CBA for the Rapid City See FUSS, Page 6 Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Beach Eric Musselman looks up at the clock during the Arkansas Red-White Game in Barnhill Arena. Musselman, in his third season at Arkansas, led the program to an Elite Eight finish last season. The Razorbacks open the season ranked No. 15.