Arkansas head basketball coach Eric Musselman has always been the little guy, and no, that’s not a joke about his height.
All his life, he’s been associated with programs that had to scratch and claw for minimal respect.
Now, after a lifetime of playing the scrappy underdog, Musselman has to play a role he’s never portrayed — leader of a team that, thanks to its recent early No. 1 ranking by ESPN — is now the hunted on a national level.
That’s the burden that comes with hauling in a recruiting class that ranks as what can only be described as 1B in the nation with an essential tie with Duke.
It becomes more of a burden as leaders who are established in the current Razorback culture exit out the back door of the Muss Bus.
Fans will have to be patient with Musselman as he navigates these new waters.
There’s nothing in his background that indicates experience in the white hot heat that comes with expectations of ultimate greatness on a widespread scale, which means Musselman will be learning to cope on the fly.
But then again, overcoming the odds is kind of his thing.
In the mid-80s Musselman played at San Diego where in 1987 the Dons compiled a 24-6 record, the best in school history.
Along with Scott Thompson, a 7-foot center who later signed with the Washington Bullets, Musselman and his teammates entered the tournament as a 9-seed, losing by a single point to Auburn in the opening round.
Had the Dons hit a single shot more, Musselman would have gone head-to-head with assistant Keith Smart, who would hit the infamous shot weeks later in New Orleans to deliver the Indiana Hoosiers a national championship.
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