Taking his team from a preseason No. 6 to No. 2 in the conference, it was already obvious Eric Musselman was in contention for SEC Coach of the Year but now, the second-year head hog is also officially in the running for national coach of the year.

The Naismith Trophy announced their list of 10 finalists on Friday (rankings on 5/1/21):

Nate Oats - Alabama (No. 8, 20-6)
Eric Musselman - Arkansas (No. 12, 20-5)
Scott Drew - Baylor (No. 3, 20-1)
Darian DeVries - Drake (n/a, 24-3)
Leonard Hamilton - Florida State (No. 11, 15-4)
Mark Few - Gonzaga (No. 1, 24-0)
Porter Moser - Loyola-Chicago (No. 20, 21-4)
Juwan Howard - Michigan (No. 2, 19-2)
Chris Holtmann - Ohio State (No. 7, 18-7)
Bob Huggins - West Virginia (No. 6, 18-7)

Musselman has the Razorbacks ranked No. 12 for the first time since 1998 and they're currently on a 10-game SEC win streak, the longest such streak since 1994.

What makes Musselman's resume standout from the other coaches named is how he built this year's roster from the ground up. The former Nevada head coach had just one returner who averaged more than 10 minutes a game for him the previous year.

Despite taking Nevada to multiple NCAA tournament appearances, this is Musselman's first time to make the Naismith's final list of 10 candidates. He was one among 15 for the 2018-19 season.

The former NBA and G-League coach reached 150 collegiate career wins this week with the squad's 28-point victory over South Carolina. Reaching 150 wins in his 201st game gives Musselman a career winning percentage of .746, which ranks sixth among active DI head coaches in at least their sixth season.

Musselman is responsible for recruiting and developing Arkansas's first likely one-and-done NBA prospect in Moses Moody. Moody is fourth in the SEC in points per game with 17 to go along with 5.8 rebounds and an 82.8% free throw percentage.

The Razorbacks take on Texas A&M on Saturday for the regular season final, then Musselman will lead his team with a No. 2-seed in the SEC tournament next week.

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