IN PHOTOS: USC basketball HC Eric Musselman shares snippets enjoying a sunny day out at the beach with his players

New USC coach Eric Musselman on Saturday posted a picture of himself and his players having fun on the beach after a frantic first month on the recruitment trail as his first order of business. He didn't have a lot of time to get started with his tenure in Southern California after leaving the Arkansas Razorbacks job to replace Andy Enfield, who took the SMU Mustangs job.

"Great day on the beach with @USC_Hoops playing wiffle ball #FightOn," Musselman posted.

During a recent news conference, Eric Musselman talked about a startling method he and his staff used to get a jump on recruitment when he first landed in Southern California.

“You know, probably the smartest thing we did is we rented a house for the first month in Manhattan Beach with our whole staff,” Musselman said. “Stayed in it, guys were in bunk beds, and we called it the Portal House. I mean Michael (Musselman) and (Anthony) Ruta were in bunk beds. This wasn’t a frat house, but it was a Portal House.”

Eric Musselman and the Portal House

Eric Musselman arrived in Southern California from Arkansas with no house and unexpectedly opted to rent a house on the beach where he shacked up with his staff as they raced against time to recruit prospects from the transfer portal.

During a recent news conference, he expressed his delight at the camaraderie that he shared with his staff as they watched film and chose targets for recruitment at the Peach House.

“We literally — it’d be like midnight and I’d say ‘Hey, what about that guy from so-and-so college?’ It’d be like 12:30 at night and Coach Conroy stayed in. It was pretty fun. Just crushing Bowling Green tape at like 2:00 a.m., eating every meal together. None of us cooked, so we ate out every single meal for a full 30 days."

Eric Musselman has had to deal with a chaotic situation as the coach of the USC Trojans who had a wretched season last time out under coach Andy Enfield, going 15-18.

The Trojans lost standouts Isaiah Collier, Boogie Ellis and LeBron James's son, Bronny James to the 2024 NBA draft, and the coach had to deal with multiple transfer portal exits as well.

The USC Trojans were highly favored to be a contender for the Pac-12 and national championship last season but ended up with an underwhelming season. Eric Musselman will hope that he can change the fortunes of the team.