Coaches’ sons Dan Hurley and Eric Musselman to meet in Sweet 16

LAS VEGAS(AP) — Every day he wasn’t out recruiting or away at a game, BillMusselman wrote a message on his son’s school lunch bag.

Effort,energy, enthusiasm.

The messageand the relentless pursuit of perfection it implored served as thesubstratum of Eric Musselman’s life.

“Everythingthat happened with my dad and I, whenever I was around him, being acompetitor was kind of beyond belief,” the Arkansas coach saidWednesday.

UConn coachDan Hurley knows the feeling.

LikeMusselman, he spent his childhood being told just good enough mightas well be failure.

The twocoaches’ sons have come together in the desert, preparing for aSweet 16 game Thursday night that will push one a step closer tocollege basketball’s ultimate goal.

“I thinkbeing coaches’ kids just gives you such a unique perspective and itmakes basketball such a huge part of your life,” Hurley said. “Ithink that’s why we both coach with so much passion and we live anddie with every possession.”

Hurley’sfather, Bob, is one of the few high school coaches to be inductedinto the Naismith Hall of Fame, a hoops firebrand who led St.Anthony High School to 26 New Jersey state titles.

Dan and hisbrother Bobby played for their father and watched as he demandedexcellence from his players on and off the court.

Bobby won twonational championships as a player at Duke and is currently ArizonaState’s head coach.

Dan played atSeton Hall and, after stints at Wagner and Rhode Island, was taskedwith rebuilding UConn back into national prominence when he washired five years ago. The Huskies have gone to the NCAA Tournamentin each of the past three seasons and are one win from theprogram’s first Elite Eight since winning the 2014 nationaltitle.

“I want to bethe college version of my dad,” Hurley said. “I want to coach withintegrity, be a man of my word and have the holistic type ofapproach that my dad had, be a coach’s coach like my dad, not aphony or a fraud or a liar or a cheater.”

How importanthas his dad been? Hurley had to compose himself for several secondsafter being asked about him Wednesday in Las Vegas.

“That was abrutal last question, buddy,” he said before pausing. “I’m justglad my dad’s at the games.”

Musselman’sdad, who died at 59 in 2000 after suffering a stroke, zigzagged hisway across the country coaching in the NBA, American BasketballAssociation, Western Basketball Association and college over fourdecades.

His father’stravels gave the younger Musselman a unique view into the world ofbasketball and beyond.

Musselmanwent on road trips with his father, served as a ball boy foropposing teams and got to know people most kids at the time onlydreamed of meeting. He absorbed his father’s intensity andattention to detail, and served as an assistant under him with theNBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves.

“To be ableto work with him with the Timberwolves and watch his preparation,watch how he conducted practice, his attention to detail,”Musselman said. “And I was lucky to watch him meet with so manyother coaches in different sports. I was just exposed to a wholedifferent lifestyle than everybody else that I grew up with.”

Musselmanfollowed his father’s coaching footsteps after playing at theUniversity of San Diego. He became head coach of the ContinentalBasketball Association’s Rapid City Thrillers at age 24 and latercoached the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors.

Intrigued bythe prospect of coaching in college, Musselman wanted to learn fromthe ground level, so he took jobs as an assistant at Arizona Stateand LSU. He was clearly ready once he become a head coach, leadingNevada to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including arun to the 2018 Sweet 16.

Musselman hashad even sweeter success in Fayetteville. He led the Razorbacks tothe Elite Eight in his second season and returned there last year.He is seeking a third straight appearance in a regional final.

That runseemed to be headed toward an end this season when Trevon Braziletore his ACL and five-star freshman Nick Smith Jr. was limited byknee injuries. The Razorbacks rallied like their tenacious coach,pulling off a win over No. 1 seed Kansas thatMusselmancelebrating with his shirtoff.

“We just keptkind of grinding and looking at the next game on our schedule andtrying to have belief,” Musselman said. “And here we are again.It’s a resilient team that’s overcome a lot for sure.”

Just like itscoach — and UConn’s.