USC men's basketball coach Eric Musselman had a heated verbal altercation with Gary, a beach treasure hunter who has a YouTube channel, at Venice Beach over the weekend. The confrontation involved expletives and threats after Gary refused to leave an area where Musselman’s team was taking photos. This incident occurred just before former USC player Chad Baker-Mazara filed a lawsuit alleging that Musselman made racially charged comments during a post-game locker room rant following a loss to Nebraska.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On Sunday, USC men’s basketball head coach Eric Musselman got into an argument with a beach treasure hunter named Gary from the YouTube channel "Gary's Metal Detecting." The incident occurred while Musselman and his team were taking pictures near Santa Monica Pier. A staff member initially asked Gary to move but tensions escalated when Gary refused, stating he had a right to be there since it was a public beach. Musselman then verbally confronted Gary, using profanity and calling him derogatory names such as "dickhead." The confrontation occurred the day before racist allegations were made against Musselman by a former student-athlete. USC has denied any racial motivations behind the player's removal from the team roster.
Written for “Eric Musselman Heated Altercation” on 2026-09-17,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
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No political leaning scored for article 14546 · logged 2026-09-17
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.
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video → get → Post
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.
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detectorist → take → 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.
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tensions → say → sand
“It’s a public beach,” Gary could be heard telling the man in the footage.
uncertain
Gary → ’ → footage
“I can be wherever I want to be.
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I → want → ?
I can be wherever I want to be.
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I → want → ?
I can walk right in there if I want to.”
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I → walk → ?
“If you want your ass whooped you can,” the man said, according to the video.
uncertain
man → want → video
After a brief back and forth between the two, Gary said Musselman stepped in.
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Musselman → say → two
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?”
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you → appear → What
“I mean, no,” Gary said, according to the video.
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Gary → mean → video
Musselman then got near Gary and said, “Somebody should f—king drop your ass is what should happen.”
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what → get → ass
The coach then walked away.
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coach → walk → ?
Gary, Musselman and the rest of the USC men’s basketball team had no further contact.
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Gary → have → contact
USC did not have a comment on the incident when reached by The Post on Wednesday morning.
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USC → have → morning
A text message to Musselman seeking a statement on the matter was not returned.
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message → seek → matter
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.
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Musselman → accuse → Feb.
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!”
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anyone → claim → teammates
Musselman then allegedly told Baker-Mazara to “go back to the f—king Dominican Republic!”
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Musselman → tell → 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.
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lawsuit → make → teammates
Baker-Mazara was dismissed from USC’s team the day after the game.
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Mazara → dismiss → 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.
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decision → have → race
We look forward to defeating this action in court.”
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We → look → court
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