This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

It's official: Eric Musselman is headed to Arkansas

12:05 p.m. update:

Arkansas director of athletics Hunter Yurachek posted a cryptic tweet at 11:55 a.m. implying that a deal with Eric Musselman has been finalized.

The tweet consists only of a GIF showing red smoke rising from Arkansas' Bud Walton Arena. The GIF may be a reference to the Vatican's use of white smoke from a Sistine Chapel chimney indicating that a new pope has been elected.

Original story:

ESPN reported Sunday morning that Nevada men's basketball coach Eric Musselman is in negotiations to become the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, according to unnamed sources.

"Both sides expect a deal to be reached barring something unexpected," the sports news outlet reported.

It reflects a significant turnaround from Tuesday, when Musselman's wife Danyelle dispelled earlier rumors that he had no plans to leave the school where he has coached for four years.

"He's here in Reno with no plans to go anywhere," Danyelle said in a Tuesday text message to the RGJ.

Jeff Goodman, a basketball analyst with the sports network Stadium, posted a tweet on Tuesday morning calling Musselman a "serious candidate" for Arkansas' head coach position.

Goodman noted later Tuesday morning that Musselman was just one of several candidates for the Arkansas job, according to his source.

"Twitter created this rumor and boy did it spread," Danyelle Musselman said in an interview with the Reno Gazette Journal.

On Tuesday afternoon, Nevada senior Caleb Martin tweeted a video of himself playing one-on-one basketball against Musselman at Reno High School, although it was unclear if the video was shot that day.

"Mouse in the house," Martin tweeted. Musselman retweeted Martin's message and added, "Relationships don't stop when the season ends."

Web speculation runs amok

While rumors swirled, Trey Schaap, on-air host with Little Rock, Arkansas sports radio station KABZ, posted a tweet Tuesday afternoon saying that Musselman already was in Fayetteville making a campus visit.

One Wikipedia editor on Tuesday changed Musselman's current position to head coach at Arkansas. A writer for Hogville.net, an Arkansas Razorbacks sports news site, tweeted a photo of a sizable press conference setup at Arkansas' Bud Walton Arena. Respondents to the tweet speculated that a Musselman announcement was imminent.

Another Twitter user said Musselman already had accepted a 5 year, $14.5 million deal to come to Arkansas, citing a "contract lawyer for the U of A."

"Musselman is 'Committed to bringing Arkansas back to the promise land and looks forward to building a top national program,'" the tweet read.

UNR president: 'We certainly want to keep Eric Musselman here'

Eric Musselman, the highest-paid public employee in the state of Nevada, earned $1.014 million in 2017.

Musselman has led the Wolf Pack to a 110-34 record in four seasons with Nevada, along with a CBI Tournament championship, three NCAA Tournament berths and one Sweet 16 appearance. His win percentage of .7638 outpaces the records of illustrious college coaches including Bill Self, Rick Pitino and Jim Boeheim.

Musselman has brought Nevada basketball back to the national spotlight, and UNR President Marc Johnson said Tuesday that the university would work to retain his services.

"We certainly want to keep Eric Musselman here," he told the RGJ on Tuesday afternoon. "He's had a great run in this community, the community loves him, he's had great success here, and we'd like to see that continue."

Johnson said he wouldn't comment on what kind of salary he would offer to keep Musselman at Nevada.

"We talk to him all the time, but it's an extremely competitive marketplace, and there are different viewpoints," Johnson said. "You get the coach at Gonzaga (Mark Few) who I'm sure could have gone away for lots of money, but he really enjoyed the Gonzaga community and wanted to see that develop. And he did develop a relatively small school into a phenomenal team and he did that by building a program over many years."

THE MANY FACES OF ERIC MUSSELMAN

Musselman rumors abound

After a three-year stint as an NBA head coach in the early 2000s, compiling a 108-138 overall record with the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, Musselman turned his coaching career around in the NBA D-League.

He led the Sacramento Kings-affiliated Reno Bighorns to a conference-best 34-16 regular-season record in 2010-11; the following season, he helmed the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers affiliate, to a league-best 38-12.

Musselman got his start in college basketball with two seasons at Arizona State, then moved to LSU for one season before accepting the top job at Nevada. His near-overnight success, transforming a 9-22 Wolf Pack into CBI champions the following season, have made him one of the top targets of high-profile programs throughout his career.

Following his second season at Nevada, Musselman interviewed twice with California about their head coaching slot in 2017 before withdrawing his name from consideration.

He also has long been attached to UCLA's legendary basketball program. The Los Angeles Times mentioned him as a "Plan B" level candidate for the Bruins in February:

Eric Musselman: He’s won big at Nevada, but his reliance on junior college players and his hiring of assistant coach Yanni Hufnagel, who faced sexual harassment accusations from a reporter while working at California, could make him unhirable.

In January, Sports Illustrated speculated that Musselman's true aim is returning to the NBA:

In a recent telephone interview, Musselman makes it clear he’s not lobbying for another job. “I love it at Nevada,” Musselman said. “It’s probably the most fun 3 1/2 years I’ve had in coaching.” But reminisce with him for a few minutes on his NBA days and it’s obvious there’s a part of him that believes there is unfinished business.

Coaching departure would be nothing new for Nevada

If Musselman does leave this offseason, he wouldn't be the first high-profile coach to leave for a higher-profile gig in recent memory.

More:Watch: Eric Musselman, Jazz Johnson break down Pack's Mountain West win over Boise State

Trent Johnson was hired in 1999 and spent five years at Nevada, leading his 2003-04 squad to the Wolf Pack's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1985 and its first-ever Sweet 16 appearance. Johnson was hired away by Stanford following that season and also coached at LSU and TCU. Most recently, he served as assistant at Louisville to Reno High alum David Padgett in 2017-18.

Mark Fox, Johnson's longime assistant at Nevada, took over the program in 2004 and led the Pack to a 123-43 record, five postseason appearances and two NCAA first-round wins in five seasons before leaving for Georgia. He never was able to recapture the same success as with Nevada, compiling a 163-133 record and just a pair of NIT first-round wins in nine seasons.

On Monday, Fox accepted the head coaching job at Cal.

Longtime Arkansas coach fired

Mike Anderson had served as head coach with the Razorbacks for eight seasons, compiling a 169-102 overall record. His teams picked up three NCAA Tournament berths and a pair of first-round wins during his tenure. Anderson earned $2.55 million for the 2018-2019 season. He was fired last week.

More:Arkansas fires Mike Anderson after eight-year tenure

Arkansas finished with an 18-16 record last year, but finished in a ninth-place tie with an 8-10 record in the 14-team Southeastern Conference. The 2018-19 Razorbacks wrapped up the season with a second-round loss in the NIT.

Brett McGinness is the engagement editor for the Reno Gazette Journal. He's also the writer of The Reno Memo — a free newsletter about news in the Biggest Little City. Subscribe to the newsletter right here. Consider supporting the Reno Gazette Journal, too.