College basketball analyst names 2 SEC coaches as candidates for Texas vacancy
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College basketball’s coaching carousel is fully underway, and it could have a big impact on the SEC.
Texas coach Shaka Smart took the Marquette job on Friday, leaving the Longhorns with a coaching vacancy.
ESPN’s Seth Greenberg thinks two current SEC head coaches should be considered in the search: Auburn’s Bruce Pearl and Arkansas’ Eric Musselman.
“They need someone that’s going to get that Texas fan base excited,” Greenberg said on ESPN’s College GameDay on Saturday morning, via 247Sports. “I’m going to throw two names at you. How about Bruce Pearl? Talk about a guy that’s gone into a football environment and created frenzy and a winning atmosphere, a winning environment and style of play and energy.
“How about Eric Musselman, who goes to Arkansas, flips it around, all of a sudden the same thing. The use of social media, the use of style of play. Style of play is really important. You have to energize the fan base and get the fan base excited. Those are two guys that make you excited.”
Pearl is a known quantity thanks to his years of success at both Tennessee and Auburn. Musselman is less experienced, but is clearly on an upward trajectory. His Razorbacks are playing Oral Roberts in the Sweet 16 on Saturday evening.
Although Texas has struggled on the court in recent years — including last week’s NCAA Tournament upset loss to Abilene Christian — its resources and access to rich recruiting ground make it one of the best jobs in the country.
It will be interesting to see if the Longhorns can sway an established coach like Pearl or Musselman to try to build Texas’ program into a national power.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
