Miami the Right Move for Larranaga?
When Coach Jim Larranaga first left George Mason for Miami, it seemed like a good move. Coach Larranaga certainly had his opportunities since he led the Colonials to a Final Four in 2006, but this was the move he jumped on. Sunny Miami, Florida is not a bad place to end up. Coaching in the ACC is a never a bad thing and Larranaga did spend some time at Virginia as an assistant in the early 1980’s. However, things started turning south as soon as Larranaga headed south to Miami.
The whole booster incident has scarred the athletics department and the basketball program is not completely out of the woods. DeQuan Jones is under investigation by the NCAA for accepting illegal benefits. The injury bug also hit pretty hard. Big man Julian Gamble is almost certainly out for the year after tearing an ACL. Fellow big man, and a very, very important part of the Hurricanes, Reggie Johnson is out for at least a month or two after suffering a knee injury over the summer.
That leaves the Miami frontcourt reeling. There is hardly any depth at all behind transfer Kenny Kadji and he has not played in two years. Larranaga stated he wanted to coach at Miami because this is a team that can win right now. And he was right. And he is still right. Of all the new big name coaches in the ACC, Larranaga and his Hurricanes have the best shot at making the NCAA Tournament this season.
But it is about more than just this season. Miami, despite their recent failures, is a pretty young team that should be penciled in for the NCAA Tournament for the next couple of seasons…if all goes according to plan. And that is why Coach Larranaga took the Miami job. It is nice to win this year, which he will do if Johnson is at full strength by January, but the bigger picture is that this is a program that can be a consistent NCAA Tournament team.
Read the in-depth men’s basketball preview for this team
