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After early reports indicated that Eric Musselman would be the next head coach at Cal, Musselman is backing off and staying with the Nevada Wolf Pack.
Eric Musselman met with Cal officials twice but has decided to remain at Nevada, a source told @CBSSports. Working on a new deal now.
— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) March 22, 2017
There are indications that the California Golden Bears basketball coaching search itself was part of the problem, confirming the earlier report that the way Cal Athletics is handling this whole situation has been a big issue with regards to finding a new coach.
Source confirms Coach Musselman is staying at Nevada. Sounds like Cal search process was very off-putting. That circus was not appealing.
— Chris Murray (@MurrayRGJ) March 22, 2017
The Reno Gazette-Journal has more.
Musselman was considered the front-runner for the job and was the only known candidate to interview twice at Cal. He met with Bears officials Monday and again Tuesday before deciding to pull his name from consideration Tuesday night. Cal officials were notified Wednesday morning of the decision.
Musselman has three years remaining on his contract at a rate of $400,000 per season but will rip that deal up and sign its coach to a more lucrative contract. Nevada athletic director Doug Knuth told the RGJ earlier this week that the school was doing everything it could to keep Musselman.
It’s unclear what the next step for Cal will be in this process. They have interviewed UC Irvine coach Russell Turner. There have been reports of interviews with Montana coach Travis DeCuire and UC Davis coach Jim Les. And there’s a long list of other candidates so far.
Cal seemed to have wanted Musselman from the start, so it’s unclear what they’ll do with their Plan B option. How will the next steps in this play go?