Miami Hurricanes have connections and similarities to NCAA finalists
Larranaga was a big part of Holland’s success at Virginia and before that Davidson. In three seasons at Davidson under Holland, the Wildcats were 55-27 with Larranaga on the staff. Larranaga spent two more seasons at Davidson when Holland left for Virginia. The Wildcats finished 12-40 in two seasons under
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Larranaga reunited with Holland in Charlottesville in 1979. He arrived at UVA at the same time as future three-time consensus National Player of the Year Ralph Sampson. The Cavaliers won the 1980 NIT, advanced to the1981 Final Four finishing third and the 1983 Elite Elite during the Sampson era.
Until the Tony Bennett era, the Cavaliers most successful tenure occurred with Sampson manning the middle. In 2006 Larranaga led the biggest Cinderella run in NCAA Tournament history when he coached George Mason to the Final Four as an 11 seed.
The Patriots defeated Michigan State, North Carolina and UConn on their way to Indianapolis. On Virginia staff’s Larranaga was part of what many dub the biggest upset in college basketball history when number one UVA was upset in Honolulu by NAIA Chaminade.
The Cavaliers had defeated (H)Akeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Houston and Patrick Ewing and Georgetown earlier that season. In Larranaga’s seven seasons on Holland’s staff, the Cavaliers went 170-62. In Sampson’s last three seasons from 1980-83, Virginia went 88-13.