Connections helped Musselman lure Patrick away from head coaching job
College Students, get a year of HawgBeat coverage for just $11.95. Request details via email from your school account (.edu) to nchavanelle@yahoo.com.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe for free for 30 days w/code HAWGS30
NEW USERS | RETURNING USERS
FAYETTEVILLE — Convincing a sitting Division I head coach to be his next assistant was not a one-man job for Eric Musselman.
In order to lure David Patrick away from his gig at UC-Riverside, the second-year Arkansas coach leaned on former colleagues Johnny Jones and Brendan Suhr, both of whom worked with him at LSU, for help
It also took many conversations in which Musselman sold Patrick on a vision of what the two coaches could accomplish together with the Razorbacks.
“It wasn’t just one phone call,” Musselman said. “It was a lot of back and forth, and it was hard for Coach Patrick to leave a head coaching job. I can tell you that wasn’t an easy decision for him.”
Ultimately, that hard work paid off, as Patrick left his position as the head coach at UC-Riverside to become the Razorbacks’ newest assistant coach, it was announced Wednesday.
He fills the vacancy created by Chris Crutchfield - a member of Musselman’s original staff - taking the head coaching job at Division II East Central University exactly one month earlier.
“When we had an opening, (Patrick) was the first guy that I thought would really be good and fit in with our current, entire staff and knows me,” Musselman said. “I loved his background of being a player at a high level, obviously his connections to Australia (and) I’ve seen him work as a recruiter.”
Musselman’s relationship with Patrick dates back to the late-2000s. After his short stint with the Sacramento Kings, he was an NBA analyst for FOX Sports Radio and got to spend time around the St. Mary’s program.
Patrick - who was an assistant for the Gaels at the time - would tag along to dinners with St. Mary’s head coach Randy Bennett and Musselman, who also got to see him in action at practices. Half a decade later, they spent one season (2014-15) together as assistants at LSU and Musselman now describes him as a “basketball junkie.”
“Obviously he is known as an incredible recruiter, but he’s really, really good on the floor,” Musselman said. “He’s a guy that loves individual player development. He’s just as well-rounded a coach as I’ve been around, from the recruiting aspect to the Xs and Os to game preps, practicing and individual skill development.”
A key figure in the signing of eventual No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick Ben Simmons, Patrick spent four seasons with the Tigers and then two years as an assistant at TCU before taking the UC-Riverside job.
Inheriting a team with single-digit wins in each of the previous two seasons, he led the Highlanders to a 10-23 mark in his first season. They went 17-15 this season before the coronavirus pandemic led to the cancelation of the Big West Tournament.
On the strength of a defense that ranked eighth nationally in scoring, allowing just 60.6 points per game, it was just the second time UC-Riverside has posted a winning record in 19 seasons at the Division I level. That included a dominant 66-47 win at Nebraska to open the season.
It was clear to Musselman that Patrick had the Highlanders on an “upward swing.”
“You look at some of the games and some of the good wins they had this year, like at Nebraska,” Musselman said. “He was building something that was probably going in the direction of being something that was really special in the Big West.”
While Musselman said he believes Patrick is underrated from an Xs and Os standpoint, he has developed a reputation as an excellent recruiter at all of his college stops thanks to his - as the Arkansas coach puts it - “likability.”
“He's a likable guy, has an incredible personality and he's got great experience and he has really, really incredible recruiting connections,” Musselman said. “He knows all the AAU people, the Australian pipeline is well documented.”
In addition to growing up in the country, Patrick played professionally in Australia for one season and is now an assistant coach for the Australian National Team. He also recruited future NBA players Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova to St. Mary’s and Simmons to LSU, all of whom are from Australia.
Those connections made it an easy choice for Musselman, who said his phone had been pretty busy during the month since Crutchfield’s departure.
“There was a lot of really qualified people, a lot of people I have worked with in the past who I think are great coaches,” Musselman said. “David Patrick, when I really considered and thought about everything and talked it over with Hunter (Yurachek), I think this really made the most sense for this program.”
