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Teams need to have a certain edge to them that can be difficult to define exactly. Safe to say that as a player who stood at 5'5" in the NBA, new USC assistant coach Earl Boykins had that winning mentality.
Not only did Boykins make it into the league, but he also maintained a 14-year career as a professional. Between the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, and Los Angeles Clippers, the guard showed how much his skill set and determination allowed him to contribute and have teams more than willing to use a roster spot on him.
During the 2002-2023 season, Boykins played with the Golden State Warriors. His head coach at the time was an all-too familiar name to Trojan fans now, as it was coach Eric Musselman who led GSW in the West.
Since retiring, Coach Boykins has coached at Douglas County High School. He then moved to the college scene and served as an assistant at UTEP from 2021 up until this past season.
Coach Boykins, as shared on the USC men's basketball social media page, will now join the coach Musselman staff and help prepare the Trojans for the upcoming 2025-2026 season.
Paths crossed often before joining forces at USC
Having familiarity with each other certainly helps. Between the two, this type of reunion has been somewhat a long time in the making. Before heading to El Paso, Texas, coach Boykins joined coach Musselman as a part of his staff at Arkansas as the Director of Student-Athlete Development. This came as a result of coach Boykins helping the Orlando Magic during the summer league and his former HC extending a hand and asking him to help out at the collegiate level.
For coach Boykins, it is all about "giving back to the game." He is someone who has achieved a lot and has an impressive resume. Now, with experience within college programs and just as eager to continue to pour his efforts back into the game of basketball, this is something of an ideal fit that has been written in the cards for a while, finally being fulfilled at USC.