Jim Larranaga’s legacy was cemented. He has coached George Mason and Miami to 10 combined NCAA appearances. He led George Mason to Final 4, won an ACC Title, and has been the national coach of the year. He’s also won nearly 700 games in his career.
It still seems like he doesn’t get the credit he deserves as one of the better college basketball coaches of the last 30 years.
Jim Larranaga’s coached a masterpiece against Auburn. Tiger head coach Bruce Pearl is still trying figure out what hit him. So much so he actually the SEC basketball “grind”. Just admit it Bruce, Larranaga got the better of you.
Larranaga’s scramble defense takes the credit as written by Tim Reynolds in YahooSports.
From that piece…
The defense was the difference. The Hurricanes held Auburn 18 points below its scoring average. The scramble showed up everywhere: in the backcourt, or 30 feet from the basket, or even in the post.
“They’re just very physical in every catch,” said Auburn’s Jabari Smith, a certain lottery pick and probable top-five selection if he declares for the NBA draft as expected. “They sent somebody any time I tried to attack or make a move. They just kept bodies on me. They switched every ball screen.”
I was at this game, and I was shocked at how frustrated an extremely talented Auburn got. This was a team that spent time ranked #1, and some considered capable of winning the national title.
Miami can’t get ahead of itself, but reaching the Final 4 is a real possibility. They will be the higher seed against 11 seed Iowa State and then will likely face number 1 MidWest seed Kansas. That would be a first for Miami basketball.
After what the Canes did the opening NCAA weekend beating USC and then Auburn, I wouldn’t bet against the Canes and Jim Larranaga.
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