Believe it or not, Danyelle Musselman does say no.
A look at her list of volunteer causes, however, would indicate otherwise.
Danyelle, wife to University of Arkansas Head Men’s Basketball Coach Eric Musselman, has not only made herself at home in Arkansas, she has made herself a mainstay of numerous charitable and philanthropic organizations around the state in the past four-plus years.
A sampling of her many endeavors includes the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas, co-chair of the annual Suits and Sneakers Gala benefiting the American Cancer Society, market chair of Make-A-Wish Mid-South, board membership on the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, board membership with the transitional housing community New Beginnings and speaking engagements at Boys and Girls Clubs, among many other things.
“I try not to commit to things I’m not fully invested in,” Danyelle says, explaining that she actually says no to something “every week.”
Being a former TV sports journalist and anchor, model and actor, as well as the spouse of a high-profile coach, give Danyelle a platform to use her charms and talents for all the causes to which she says yes.
“Being the first lady, I guess, of basketball, as they say, I think that definitely opened up Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas and child abuse to an audience we may not have reached yet, so we’re very thankful for that,” says Misty Hunt, development and public policy specialist for CAC.
“The entire state of Arkansas is so supportive of the Razorbacks, and of Danyelle and I,” Eric says. “Over the last four years, we have seen that they often want to be a part of things that we support. We are able to bring attention to causes and nonprofits through our visibility and help the community. It’s really been incredible.”
CAC is appreciative enough to honor Danyelle as this year’s Woman of Inspiration at the Oct. 23 event in Little Rock that also serves as the organization’s primary fundraiser.
“I’m truly honored by it and really humbled,” Danyelle says. “I don’t necessarily love lots of attention, because people think everyone who is on TV must love attention. But that’s not really my personality. I’m so humbled by that stuff. It’s not something I envisioned.”
SCREEN TIME
Born in St. Louis as Danyelle Sargent, her dad worked for Ford and the family moved “a ton.” She wound up graduating from high school in Atlanta, which she considers home.
“That’s where my family still lives now,” she says.
Danyelle became interested in sports while watching TV with her dad, and played basketball and softball and ran track in high school. She also had an interest in high school stage productions and public speaking.
Musselman attended the University of Florida to study communications with an eye toward being a journalist, and she put her poise in front of people and the camera together with her career ambition.
“Originally I thought I wanted to go to film school,” she says. “I always really loved writing and all of that, and once I got into college, I don’t remember if it was a class or what, but I wanted to be in broadcasting, especially as on-air talent in sports.”
She achieved her goal and was working as a national anchor at FOX Sports Network when she met Eric Mussleman, who had already coached in the NBA and was in the audience for a sports and media panel she was moderating in Los Angeles.
Danyelle was in her 30s and Eric was 12 years her senior, with two sons, Michael and Matthew. The couple married in 2009 and their daughter Mariah came along about six years later.
Danyelle continued to work in broadcast sports journalism, moving on to the NFL Network. Her job and Eric’s coaching had her bouncing between Los Angeles and wherever her husband was coaching until, when Mariah was around 3 years old and Eric was on the staff at Arizona State, she gave it all up.
“I was literally on a plane every week,” Danyelle says.
She was rarely at a loss for something to do, and in Arizona yet another career path opened up. Danyelle took Mariah to a modeling agency “because she’s a beautiful little girl, and they said, ‘Well, what about you?’ And I said ‘Well, actually, I just left my job last week.’”
She began modeling locally and performing in commercials — there are tax incentives for national commercial production in Arizona — then moved to Louisiana when Eric became associate head coach at LSU in Baton Rouge.
New Orleans, not that far away, was less about the commercials and ads and more about TV and movies, offering breaks and tax incentives for screenplay productions. Danyelle met an agent through a workout class and wound up landing a role as, what else, a reporter on an episode of “CSI: New Orleans” that she described as one of the coolest things she’d done in front of the camera.
“I always got those reporter roles, but that was kind of what I was,” she says. “It was something fun to do. I’m always a person who wants to be busy and always working.”
From table reads to having a trailer to being fitted for wardrobe, it was the quintessential acting experience, even though her screen time wound up being limited.
“You’re there all day and then your part is 15 seconds,” Danyelle says.
Her time as a model and actor, she says, basically came about because of where she and Eric geographically lived. The Ozarks would be a different type of geography and offer another new way to stay busy.
Behind the Scenes
It wasn’t acting, but Danyelle got into volunteerism and philanthropy by also filling a role.
“To be honest I consider it kind of like my second act in life,” she says. “I was not involved in that area at all until Eric got the head job at the University of Nevada.”
The previous coach and his wife were co-chairs of an American Cancer Society event and the organization called the Musselmans to ask if they would step in. She was still in New Orleans at the time and had only six weeks to help pull the event together.
“I kind of jumped in and did that and it went on from there,” she says. “I used my broadcasting background to be an emcee and host events.”
The Musselmans were in Nevada from 2014-2019 before Eric was hired at Arkansas. The couple wasn’t afraid of the move; he was a coach and coaches change location, while she had lived in 14 different states.
Still, Arkansas was a welcome place to land, even if it took a while to adjust because the COVID-19 pandemic was on the horizon.
“Once I got here I just saw how beautiful it was. Gosh, you can get so much for your money here after living on the West Coast,” she says. “People were so friendly and embraced us right away.”
As life began to return to near normal with the easing of the pandemic, Danyelle’s volunteer career took off. She finds herself to be less of a salesperson and fundraiser and more of an organizer, lending her talents to numerous events that support causes.
“I’ve found out that I have a knack for, I don’t want to say event planning, but just creativity and ideas and I’m constantly looking and watching and seeing how different events are done,” Danyelle says. “I try to create unique experiences that people want to come back to.”
Case in point is the Oct. 13 Suits and Sneakers Gala supporting the American Cancer Society’s childhood cancer research, services and awareness. For the sold-out NWA event, Musselman is planning a carnival-type atmosphere featuring action stations, art elements like sneaker painting and of course, a lot of connections to the Razorbacks.
“A lot of things that Danyelle does incorporate Razorback men’s basketball,” Eric says. “So we just try to be a part of as many causes as we are able to. I love that she introduces so many of our players to giving back to the community. It’s an important life lesson.”
Her mother is a breast cancer survivor, so fighting the disease ranks high on Musselman’s list of favorite causes. But she also worked on Waiters for Wishes to benefit Make-A-Wish Mid-South and its efforts on behalf of kids fighting critical illnesses. Held at Walk-On’s in Fayetteville on Sept. 27, Waiters for Wishes featured Razorbacks players and coaches as waiters.
“Danyelle has been working really hard on this event for the past few months and I am helping by just getting our guys there, so I only know what she tells me,” Eric said prior to the event. “She says it will be a really fun event, and our players love interacting with fans, especially kids, so I think they’ll really enjoy it.”
With one staffer in Northwest Arkansas, Make-A-Wish Mid-South, which covers all of Arkansas, western Tennessee and northern Mississippi, needs all the help it can get fundraising, says Make-A-Wish Marketing and Communications Director Amanda Wiig. The lone staff member is responsible for raising thousands of dollars, but it’s volunteers like Danyelle who carry out much of the organization’s work on the ground.
“Danyelle is such a magnetic, charismatic, just all-around attractive, energetic personality, and so when you’re around her you want to be excited for what she’s excited about,” Wiig says. “You want to get on board with what she’s doing.”
Fully settled in Arkansas now, with her volunteerism at a high, Danyelle can take stock of a satisfying situation in which everyone is pleasantly busy. Sons Michael and Matthew are on the Razorbacks staff as assistant coach and graduate assistant, respectively, and Mariah is in eighth grade and competitive dance.
Eric, of course, is busy coaching and, as evidenced by her own calendar, Danyelle has plenty to do.
“Clearly I’m involved in any and everything.”
Suit & Sneakers Gala
Benefiting the American Cancer Society
Oct. 13, 6:30 p.m. | Fayetteville Town Center
Info: suitsandsneakersar.com
Woman of Inspiration Gala
Benefiting the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Arkansas
Oct. 23, 7 p.m. | Statehouse Convention Center
Info: arwomanofinspiration.org
PHOTOGRAPHY
JASON MASTERS
STYLING
JOSIE BURNETT
HAIR
TINA ARNETT
MAKEUP
KENNEDIE DANIEL