The USC men's basketball program has added assistant coaches Will Conroy, Todd Lee, Michael Musselman, Quincy Pondexter and Anthony Ruta to its staff, as well as director of sports performance Andre Carrera and director of operations Caleb Klein. Head Coach Eric announced. Mussel man.
Musselman was named USC's men's basketball head coach on April 4 and immediately began the process of assembling an elite staff for the basketball program. Musselman and his staff have also been hard at work revamping the USC men's basketball roster for the 2024-25 season, which will also be announced in the near future.
Conroy comes to USC after nine seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Washington, where he served as the program's associate head coach for the last two seasons. During his time in Washington, he led the Huskies to the postseason three times and helped them win the Pac-12 regular season title in 2018-19. He coached four McDonald's All-Americans and worked with five players selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. He played at the University of Washington from 2001 to 2005, graduating as the school's all-time assist leader.
Lee, a veteran leader, spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach under Musselman at the University of Arkansas. The two have been together for more than 30 years, having worked together on CBA's Rapid City Thrillers from 1992 to 1994. Lee has 12 years of head coaching experience at the University of South Dakota (2018-22) and Kentucky Wesleyan University (2005-13). He was a two-time Conference Coach of the Year award winner and a finalist for National Coach of the Year. He also served as an assistant coach at Southwestern CC (1986-89), Cal State Bakersfield (1994-97), UC Irvine (1997-2005) and Grand Canyon (2013-18). Lee graduated from South Dakota State in 1986 with a degree in business administration. He received a master's degree in education from the University of the Pacific in 2003.
Michael Musselman has been on the staff of the Arkansas Razorbacks basketball program for the past five seasons. Musselman served as assistant coach and director of basketball operations at the University of Arkansas for the 2023-24 season. He spearheaded the recruiting efforts for Arkansas men's basketball players during his time at the University of Arkansas, with the 2022 class ranked No. 2 in the nation and the 2020 class ranked No. 5 nationally. He helped land four McDonald's All-Americans and the 2023 Arkansas team had three players selected in the top 40 of the NBA Draft. In 2021, Moses Moody was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the 14th pick of the NBA Draft, becoming the first player from the state of Arkansas. -And the player who finished. ” Musselman also served on the staff of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the 2023 NBA Summer League team that won the NBA Summer League title. Musselman earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and a minor in business administration from San Diego in 2018. He earned a master's degree in educational leadership from Nevada in the summer of 2019.
Pondexter served as an assistant coach in Washington from 2022-24 after an eight-year NBA career that saw him play in New Orleans, Memphis, Chicago and San Antonio. His teams have advanced to the NBA Playoffs five times, and Pondexter helped lead Memphis to the NBA Western Conference Finals in 2013. Pondexter had a stellar career in Washington, where he played in college from 2007 to 2010, ranking fifth on the Huskies' all-time scoring list with 1,786 career points. He captained the team for his two seasons and led the team to 26 wins in his two seasons, reaching the NCAA Tournament twice and reaching the Sweet 16 in 2010.
Ruta comes to USC after spending five seasons on the staff at Arkansas under Musselman. After serving as the director of operations for three seasons, Ruta served as an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. Ruta was also instrumental in building a schedule at Arkansas that consistently ranks among the toughest in the nation. Ruta worked with Musselman at the University of Nevada from 2016 to 2019, the first two seasons as director of operations and the last two seasons as an assistant coach. Prior to joining the University of Nevada, Ruta was an assistant coach with the Fort Wayne Ants in the NBA Development League. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Arizona State University. Ruta graduated from his ASU in 2012 with a degree in English Literature and earned a Master of Education in Higher Education in 2014.
Carrera was named director of men's basketball sports performance at USC after four seasons as sports performance coach for the NBA G League's Santa Cruz Warriors. Carrera also has NBA experience working with the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks, as well as working with the West Coast elite Under Armor team. He has also worked in strength and conditioning at the University of Washington and Point Loma Nazarene University.
Klein will serve as USC's director of basketball operations. He spent the 2023-24 season as assistant director of basketball operations at the University of Arkansas. He has spent his two seasons thus far as a graduate assistant in the Arkansas program. Klein played under current USC assistant coach Lee at the University of South Dakota, where he graduated in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in kinesiology and sports management with a minor in coaching.
https://usctrojans.com/news/2024/5/16/usc-announces-mens-basketball-staff.aspx
