New coach learns how to win at UNR

Eric Musselman went to his first football game at UNR a few weeks ago and saw the excitement and emotion and tension that is a rivalry with UNLV. The days and hours and minutes and seconds passed as kickoff grew closer, causing those who love and support the Wolf Pack and all that is blue to become more and more animated.

He believes it can happen in basketball, too.

Sans, of course, a cannon.

"I'm not going to shy away from it," said Musselman of a series in which the teams have split the past six meetings. "I think a lot of it is going to be up to the UNLV fans. If we win our share of games against them, I think it will be a (good rivalry). In Reno, when we play UNLV, it's a big deal. Maybe in Las Vegas right now, San Diego State is the (main basketball rival) and not us. But the one way to have a rivalry is for it to be equal winning parts."

It is one part of his challenge, igniting the competitive juices when north meets south in basketball. Mostly, it is to return UNR to a level of success it hasn't known for years.

Many believe it is natural, necessary almost, for every man to be a vagabond occasionally. Musselman has been described as such when it comes to his head coaching career, a journey that has wound through seven professional teams and included NBA stops at Golden State and Sacramento.

But he felt most prepared to pursue such a job as the one at UNR because of experience gained as a college assistant, of learning the ins and outs of academic importance under Herb Sendek at Arizona State and the tricks and trade of recruiting under Johnny Jones at Louisiana State. There are few, if any, better college recruiters going right now than LSU assistant David Patrick.

Musselman learned from him, too.

He also knew Reno, having coached the Bighorns of the NBA Development League to a Western Conference title in 2010-11, knew the town and its desire to again support a winning college team, knew that back in the day, meaning the mid-2000s, the Lawlor Events Center came alive and the Wolf Pack were NCAA-worthy.

"I think the biggest thing is that (UNR) has won in the past," said Musselman, 50. "There are a lot of college programs where you say, 'Can you fill the house? Can you make the NCAA Tournament?' But we know it has been done here. They've done it. It's not a hope. We just have to figure out how they did it in the past and get back to where we need to be.

"This isn't the (Western Athletic Conference) like before. The (Mountain West) is much more difficult, and maybe our fans need to be continually educated about that. But having said that, we know there was a time when 10,000 people were in our building wearing Wolf Pack gear and being jacked up for a home game."

His is not an easy task. UNR was picked ninth in the 11-team preseason poll at the conference media day inside the Renaissance, just ahead of Air Force and a San Jose State side that didn't beat a Division I team last season and should again rank among the country's worst programs.

The Wolf Pack have the league's best rebounder in senior forward AJ West and return five players that started at least 14 games last year, but remains a roster still needing to prove it can compete with the Mountain West's best sides.

UNR went 9-22 last season, 5-13 in conference, and finished 10th, a virtual lifetime from the school's Sweet 16 team of 2003-04.

But if there is one thing Musselman can recruit to early at UNR while also motivating his current players to buy-in, it's his NBA roots. He coached the Warriors from 2002-04 and Kings from 2006-07, the son of an NBA coach who also worked under such names as Chuck Daly and Doc Rivers and Mike Fratello.

"My first thought about him was he was an NBA coach who knows what it takes to get you to the next level," senior guard Tyron Criswell said. "He runs our program like an NBA team. He's energetic. The practices are more intense. Always going, always moving, no lag time. We've definitely seen the screaming side of him, but he also wants us to be player-coaches on the floor so during games he's not the one screaming the whole time. We need to get on each other to the point he doesn't have to. He lets you know your role and responsibilities, and you need to understand both."

Musselman said he also imparted this message to his players: He won't speak this season in terms of wins and losses, but rather about a fanatical sense of energy, effort and enthusiasm, that if the Wolf Pack can play with that sort of mindset nightly, chances of success improve.

"He is so energetic off the court, it's unreal," senior guard Marqueze Coleman said. "It gives us an edge we were lacking. Obviously, something has been missing. We want to win. I want to win. If energy, effort and enthusiasm result in that, great. But at the end of the day, we just want to win.

"And, most definitely, Coach Mus wants to win."

The vagabond has found a new home.

Maybe he sticks around this time.

Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on "Seat and Ed" on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Twitter: @edgraney