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FAYETTEVILLE — Despite being two time zones apart, Eric Musselman and Gus Argenal maintained their friendship with a steady stream of communication.
After working together for two seasons at Nevada, the two coaches went their separate ways when Musselman took the head coaching job Arkansas and Argenal landed at Cal State-Fullerton as an assistant.
When the position with the Razorbacks’ came open because of Corey Williams’ departure for Texas Tech, though, there was an immediate mutual interest in a reunion in Fayetteville. That came to fruition Monday, as the UA announced Argenal as its new assistant basketball coach.
“I think it’s just something that came about naturally, so we definitely talked,” Argenal said. “I would say I had just as much interest in him as he did in me, and probably even more. Again, I’m really, really lucky to be sitting here.”
Although he was Musselman’s associate head coach his last season at Nevada, an a regular assistant the season before that, Argenal did not initially follow his boss to Arkansas.
Instead, it became clear that the former Division II head coach was interested in replacing him at Nevada. Several players, including Cody and Caleb Martin, actually called for him to get the job.
Argenal was also reportedly a candidate to become the head coach at Idaho State and he said he had several other interviews lined up, so it wouldn’t have made sense to immediately head to Fayetteville.
“I always say success gets you a lot of opportunities and for all of us that have worked for Coach Muss, we have gotten a lot of opportunities because of that,” Argenal said. “Definitely we talked about it, just the timing was off (to come to Arkansas).”
Two years later, though, the timing worked out and he’s back on Musselman’s staff.
That isn’t a position for the faint of heart. According to research by HawgBeat, no on-court assistant coach has worked under Musselman for more than two years in his six years as a head coach.
