USC men’s basketball head coach Eric Musselman got into an expletive-filled, heated spat with a treasure hunter over the weekend, new video obtained by the California Post shows.
The incident occurred in Manhattan Beach, Calif. at around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, just a day before one of Musselman’s former players accused him of going on a racist tirade in an explosive lawsuit.
Musselman and his Trojans team were taking pictures underneath the famed beach’s pier, when a detectorist, Gary from the popular YouTube channel “Gary’s Metal Detecting,” walked into the background of their shot.
Gary said on Wednesday in an interview with The Post that someone who appeared to be on Musselman’s staff initially asked him to get out of the way, but when he stated they would “have to wait” for him to finish his scan of the sand, tensions ratcheted up.
“It’s a public beach,” Gary could be heard telling the man in the footage. “I can be wherever I want to be. I can be wherever I want to be. I can walk right in there if I want to.”
“If you want your ass whooped you can,” the man said, according to the video.
After a brief back and forth between the two, Gary said Musselman stepped in.
Musselman appeared to tell Gary in the video to “shut the f—k up,” before he called him a “f—king d—khead.”
When Gary responded, “No,” Musselman asked, “What do you mean, no?”
“I mean, no,” Gary said, according to the video. “There’s a camera right there.”
Musselman then got near Gary and said, “Somebody should f—king drop your ass is what should happen.” The coach then walked away.
Gary, Musselman and the rest of the USC men’s basketball team had no further contact.
USC did not have a comment on the incident when reached by The Post on Wednesday morning. A text message to Musselman seeking a statement on the matter was not returned.
Just hours after the beach dispute, Musselman was accused by former Trojans star Chad Baker-Mazara of losing his temper and launching “into a profanity-laced, racially-charged post-game locker room” rant after a loss to Nebraska on Feb. 28.
Baker-Mazara claimed in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles that Musselman told him to “shut the f—k up!” before he called him “one of the worst teammates anyone can ever have!” Musselman then allegedly told Baker-Mazara to “go back to the f—king Dominican Republic!”
“Coach Musselman’s outburst was a direct attack on Baker-Mazara’s national origin and Dominican heritage, made from a position of authority and power by the Head Coach of the team, in front of all of Baker-Mazara’s teammates,” Baker-Mazara’s lawsuit stated. “The tirade was unprovoked, vicious, and discriminatory.”
Baker-Mazara was dismissed from USC’s team the day after the game.
While Musselman has yet to comment on Baker-Mazara’s allegations, USC said in a response to the suit on Monday that “the decision to remove the student-athlete from the men’s basketball roster was based on a number of considerations, none having to do with race. We look forward to defeating this action in court.”
