Miami Makeover

In the coming days, we’ll hear numerous stories about Miami coach Jim Larranaga, who is taking his second team to the Final Four 17 years after famously taking George Mason to an unlikely berth in 2006. At age 73, he’s now regarded as an elder statesman within coaching circles and portrayed as kindly Uncle Jim who loves his players and does goofy dances with them in the locker room after big wins. 

IYKNK

I covered Larranaga’s University of Fairfax teams (1997-2011) in my previous life – not exclusively; my gig was William and Mary and Old Dominion and the Colonial Athletic Association in general, but I saw plenty of Mason games through the years and was around him frequently. The current image of Larranaga doesn’t jibe with what I recall: prickly, petty, often dismissive of those he didn’t deem sufficiently informed, helpful or faithful. 

A guy who coached against his teams in those days said my recollections aren’t inaccurate. Among his enduring memories of encounters with Mason were post-game handshake lines. If Larranaga’s team won, he offered a firm handshake and said, “Good game.” If his team lost, he gave opponents a quick, dead fish handshake and didn’t say a word. Following one loss, he offered that quick, dead fish grip to the head coach, then immediately made a 90-degree turn and beelined for the locker room, without a nod to anyone else. The coach/rival pointed out that Mason-era Larranaga was still climbing and grinding, trying to prove to others and maybe himself that he belonged, that he was a good coach. He didn’t use that as an excuse for Larranaga’s behavior, but simply an explanation. 

Sunny Jim toiled for 27 mostly-successful years at Division II and D1 mid-major schools (American International, Bowling Green, George Mason). He didn’t reach the NCAA Tournament as a head coach until he was 49 and didn’t get a chance to coach in a marquee league until age 62. 

He's just...he's just Jimmy from the Block

Larranaga also seemed to tailor his narrative to whatever was beneficial. For most of his career, he played up his Noo Yawk upbringing and was Jimmy LAIR-uh-NAY-guh from the Bronx. When he relocated to south Florida, with its sizeable Latino population and influence, he disclosed that his father and grandfather were Cuban with Basque roots. 

He went all rolling Rs and tildes and said that his surname was traditionally pronounced LAR-uh-NYAH-gah. Which was news to the folks at George Mason and to many who had known him for years. He explained away the discrepancy in a story in the Miami Herald a decade ago by saying that when he was a child, he tried to correct the nun at his Catholic pre-school, but she went with the more Italian-sounding pronunciation and spelling, and he let it go. He said that his father wanted the family to Americanize, though when he signed his name through the years, he regularly included the tilde, but folks either didn’t notice or ask questions. 

The aforementioned opposing coach also said that from what he’s seen and heard about Larranaga in recent years that the man has softened a bit personally, if not competitively. He’s more comfortable and confident, and his time at Miami and in the ACC has cemented his coaching bona fides. He has 725 wins and counting, a .601 winning percentage, and it can be argued that he’s slowly assembling a Hall of Fame career. 

Jordan Miller (allegedly) hails from Loudoun
County and (actually) transferred to Miami from
George Mason

The Hurricanes have been to six NCAA tournaments under Larranaga and five of the past seven, including the program’s first Final Four trip and last year’s Elite Eight appearance. Miami went to the NCAAs just twice in the 11 years before he was hired. 

As the ACC shed legendary coaches in recent years – Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Boeheim – Larranaga has shown no signs of slowing down. Why would he? He’s a basketball lifer with no hobbies who loves coaching. He appears to have a terrific setup in place. He recruits to an attractive location in a primo conference. His teams play an entertaining style. In the new landscape of Name, Image and Likeness, he has a deep-pocketed and willing partner in billionaire John Ruiz, who will ensure that money is available for both high school recruits and transfers. 

In a piece in The Athletic, Hurricanes’ assistant Bill Courtney, who has worked with Larranaga over two stints for 13 years and has known him far longer, said that his boss tells him every day, “’At this point, I’m enjoying my life.’ That attitude permeates to the (players).” The former coach/rival said that videos of Larranaga dancing with his players in the locker room demonstrate that he’s loosened up. “The old Jim probably wouldn’t have been dancing,” he said, “never mind let a camera in there and have it go out so millions of people can see it.” Pity that he wasn’t that guy 15, 20 years ago. Though maybe if he was, he wouldn’t be who and where he is now.