Nate Allen
FAYETTEVILLE - Former National Basketball Association head coach Eric Musselman has added another former NBA head coach to his Arkansas Razorbacks staff.
Keith Smart, first gaining hoops fame starring for Coach Bobby Knight’s 1987 national champion Indiana Hoosiers as a junior college transfer, and a former NBA head coach with Cleveland Cavaliers plus the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings teams that were Musselman’s teams he previously head coached, was announced Wednesday as joining Musselman’s staff.
Smart had assisted Musselman at Golden State after in the CBA pro development league playing for Musselman with the Rapid City Thrillers and Florida Beachdogs.
““What an incredible opportunity for our players to be mentored and coached by Coach Smart,” Musselman said. “His coaching experience is unmatched, being a three-time NBA head coach. His playing experience includes him (at Indiana) hitting one of the most clutch shots in the history of college basketball and playing at the highest level (with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs) professionally. Keith is someone I coached and thought so much of his knowledge of the game I hired him at Golden State. We are getting an incredible coach. He knows how to develop talent and is an excellent ‘X and O’ coach. Our players are going to love Coach Smart.”
At Arkansas he joins 2-year Arkansas assistant and former Los Angeles Lakers assistant Clay Mosier and new assistant Gus Argenal who previously assisted Musselman at the University of Nevada.
Argenal and Smart replace David Patrick, now assisting at Oklahoma, and Corey Williams, now assisting at Texas Tech.
““I am really excited about the experience and chemistry this staff, with coaches Smart, Argenal and Moser, will bring,” Musselman said.
In a UA press release, Smart, last coaching in 2018-2019 as an assistant with the New York Knicks, said, “
“I am excited to be reunited with Coach Musselman, a person I’ve known for over 30 years, and to continue my growth as a basketball coach. I cannot think of a better place than with Coach Musselman and at the University of Arkansas. By becoming a Razorback, my basketball life is somewhat coming full circle as Coach (Nolan) Richardson (Arkansas’ coach from 1985-2002) recruited me.”
Smart said he’s well aware of what to expect not just from his past with Musselman but his conversations into the present.
“In addition to playing for and working with Coach Muss, I have kept in close contact with him over the years, sharing ideas and strategies,” Smart said. “I know what he is teaching, and I know his expectations. I am thrilled to join the Arkansas family, to develop our players and to build on the solid foundation that has been laid here.”