Miami men’s basketball coach Jim Larrañaga’s time with the Hurricanes is over
Larrañaga, 75, announced he was stepping down Thursday afternoon. Assistant Bill Courtney will take over as the team’s interim coach. The Hurricanes are 4-8 so far this season after going 15-17 during the 2023-24 season.
“After more than fifty years in college coaching, it is simply time,” Larrañaga said in a statement. “There is never a great moment to step away, but I owe it to our student-athletes, our staff and the University of Miami to make this move now when my heart is simply no longer in the game and I owe it to Liz, Jay, Jon, and my grandchildren to be a greater part of their lives. The University needs a new leader of the program, one who is both adept at and embracing of the new world of intercollegiate athletics. It has been the honor of a lifetime to be a part of the Hurricane Family and to represent this world-class institution. Most importantly, I have been so blessed to have coached the hundreds of young men who chose to wear the UM jersey and who have gone on to flourish in their respective journeys. I will always be a Cane.”
Miami’s recent downturn has come after a surprise run to the Final Four in 2023. The Hurricanes went 29-8 and won the Midwest region as a No. 5 seed with wins over No. 1 seed Houston and No. 2 seed Texas. Miami fell to eventual national champion UConn in the Final Four. The 72-59 defeat was the closest game UConn played during the entire NCAA tournament that season.
Miami has looked far from a Final Four team in the opening stages of the 2024-25 season. The Hurricanes started the season 3-0 before losing seven straight games. Those defeats included losses to Drake, VCU and Charleston Southern along with losses to power conference teams like Arkansas, Clemson and No. 1 Tennessee. The Hurricanes snapped the streak with a 94-75 win over Presbyterian, but entered their Christmas break with a 78-74 overtime loss to Mount St. Mary’s on Dec. 21.
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Miami blew a 10-point lead in the second half to the Mountaineers before getting outscored 12-8 in overtime.
The 2023 Final Four appearance was the first in school history for the Hurricanes and came a season after Miami made it to the Elite Eight as a No. 10 seed after beating No. 2 Auburn in the second round of the tournament.
The longtime coach has been at Miami for 14 seasons. He came to the Hurricanes from George Mason. He spent 14 seasons at George Mason following 11 seasons at Bowling Green.
Larrañaga was at the helm at George Mason when the Patriots made one of the most improbable Final Four runs in modern college basketball history in 2006. George Mason beat three top-seven seeds before taking down No. 1 Connecticut in the Elite Eight. The Patriots lost 73-58 to eventual national champion Florida in the national semifinals.
George Mason made the NCAA tournament five times during Larrañaga’s time with the team. Miami has also made the NCAA tournament five times in his tenure.
Overall, Larrañaga’s teams have a 716-483 record since his head coaching career began during the 1986-87 season. He’s posted a winning record at all three schools and both George Mason and Miami have won more than 60% of their games with him in charge.
When he officially steps down, Larrañaga will be the second ACC coach to leave his job before the calendar flips to 2025. Virginia’s Tony Bennett stepped down in October and said that he was “no longer the best coach to lead this program in this current environment.” Bennett’s Cavaliers won the 2019 national title a year after they lost as a No. 1 seed in the first round of the tournament.
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