IYKNK |
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 |
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 |
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.
14 comments:
Nice post, Dave. Very fair treatment of Jim Larrañaga.
There are a lot of folks out there that dislike Jimmy, especially from his time in the CAA. That criticism is probably fair, but it was also a time when “surly bastard” was still a coaching archetype.
I’ll be rooting for Jimmy and the Canes this weekend.
always love when OBX Dave pops in with a gem
As Billy Corben of Rankontur Films is fond of saying, "Los Angeles is where you go when you wanna be somebody, New York is where you go when you are somebody, and Miami is where you go when you wanna be somebody else."
mike rhoades heads to penn state, leaving the door open for ryan odom to come back east and take the vcu job. big day for the tony shaver coaching tree.
Rob, did you see the piece that Teel wrote a few weeks back about the Shaver Coach Tree?
https://richmond.com/sports/college/teel-tony-shavers-hampden-sydney-coaching-tree-thriving-this-season/article_b9edc2d8-b89c-11ed-9ec2-27a08c4a02e0.html
i did - that’s the good stuff
you guys smell that? smells like stale beer, freshly mown grass, and mets fans' optimism. smells like...opening day.
Zzzzzzzz...
but new rules! faster pace! more hits! same old mets!
Ahhh, stale beer. Reminds me of a place where many of us resided for a few years. I didn't think much of it until my dad rolled through, with his mutt in tow, the morning after a Unit M party. The dog was quite enthralled by the abundant puddles of stale beer.
ironic that tony skinn shows up in this post the day before he gets named head coach at george mason. the power of g:tb!
I just saw that news. Didn't realize Skinn was in the coaching profession.
Looks like Whitney made it to Soggy Dollar. So jealous.
there was very little chance of whitney *not* making it to the soggy dollar
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