Eric Musselman Speaks on How NIL Deals Impact NBA Draft

USC men's basketball head coach Eric Musselman recently offered some insight into how NIL is impacting the NBA Draft.

Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Eric Musselman works the referees against South Carolina during their second round game of the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, March 14, 2024. / Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA

The landscape of collegiate sports has changed drastically with NIL. The jobs of universities and coaching staffs have become even more difficult when it comes to retaining players. Recently, USC men’s basketball coach Eric Musselman spoke about how things have changed in college basketball.

He recently made an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd where several topics were discussed. One of them was NIL, which has made an impact on players declaring for the NBA draft or not.

Musselman spoke about how some athletes won’t be affected by it. He used his former player at Arkansas, Anthony Black, as an example.

There were no NIL discussions had with Black or his family because he was locked into a lottery pick. The one-and-done culture in basketball isn’t going to change for the top prospects, in Musselman’s opinion.

"I think it can help the sport with certain players," Musselman said. "A year ago we had Anthony Black, who was a lottery pick, and there was never a discussion with Anthony, or his mother Jennifer, about hey, let's have Anthony come back and he can make name, image, and likeness. Because he's a lottery pick after one year, you're a one-and done- you gotta go."

There is certainly a lot of money being thrown around in the NIL era. But Black, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, signed a four-year, $32,929,836 million rookie deal.

Of course, not every college basketball player is going to be a lottery pick, let alone a pro.

The players who aren’t in the position to land multi-million dollar guaranteed deals are who Musselman believes could change their minds when it comes to declaring for the NBA draft.

“But I do think for certain players that are maybe marginal guys. Because if you’re talking about a player who’s late second round draft pick, he’s a star in college,” Musselman explained. “So I do think some guys that are borderline, maybe 45 to 60 picks, maybe those guys can participate in college for one more year, and have a little bit more patience. And then when they’re ready to go pro, maybe they go from 60 to now 38 (overall) in the following draft.”

It is certainly an interesting perspective shared by Musselman.

Some players enter college basketball knowing it will be a one-year pit stop on their path to the pros, but that is a rare path a select few talents can take.

The landscape of college basketball begin to change, with players shopping around for the best deals every offseason like it is free agency.

That is another layer that Musselman and collegiate coaches now have to combat. NIL could have certainly played a part in leaving Arkansas for USC, as the school now has the backing of a media capital to recruit players.