Eric Musselman will miss at least 2 Arkansas basketball games after having surgery on his shoulder, the team announced Thursday.

In late December, Musselman revealed on Twitter that he was hurt on Dec. 2 when Trey Wade landed on the coach’s shoulder during a closeout drill. He had hoped to put off surgery for the torn rotator cuff until after the season but unfortunately could not complete the 2021-22 season without going under the knife.

Arkansas’ announcement included an explanation from Dr. Wesley K. Cox.

“Almost six weeks ago, Coach Musselman sustained a significant shoulder injury in practice after a collision with a player,” Cox said. “An MRI confirmed his shoulder had torn tendons and would require surgery. The goal was to use daily physical therapy and treatment as well as a steroid injection to delay the surgery as many weeks as we could, none of which have offered any significant improvement. At this time, surgery to repair the tears was necessary due to the amount of pain and instability he was experiencing and to mitigate the risk for significant complications in the future. Coach Musselman is expected to do very well and ultimately make a full recovery.”

In Musselman’s absence, assistant coach Keith Smart will serve as the Razorbacks’ interim coach. Smart joined the Hogs staff this summer after 22 years of coaching professionally, including head coaching stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings.

Arkansas is 11-5 on the year so far, facing LSU on Saturday night in Baton Rouge. The Razorbacks then host South Carolina on Tuesday, Jan. 18. We’ll see if Musselman returns for the Jan. 22 home game against Texas A&M.