Don’t let the last two seasons fool you — Jim Larrañaga is the best head coach Miami basketball history and it’s not close.
Jim Larrañaga arrived at The U in 2011 and success followed in short order. After a 2011-12 season where Miami fizzled out in the NIT, Coach L had the pieces in place for the best Miami basketball team in program history.
Led by Shane Larkin, Durand Scott, Kenny Kadji, and Larrañaga’s tenacious coaching, the 2012-13 Hurricanes team won the first-ever ACC Regular Season and conference tournament titles for the Miami basketball program. Larrañaga’s team 2012-12 team reached as high as number two in the AP Poll.
But Larrañaga wasn’t a one-hit-wonder. After a complete roster turnover in 2013-14 in which the Miami basketball program lost all five starters and a solid season the following year that saw the Hurricanes reach the NIT Championship Game, the Canes were back to competing among the elite in the ACC under Coach L.
Larrañaga’s 2015-16 team, headlined by core pieces Sheldon McClellan and Angel Rodriguez, led Miami to 27 wins and another Sweet Sixteen appearance. That was the first of three straight seasons Miami earned NCAA Tournament bids. CBS Sports named Larranaga as the best coach in Miami Basketball history.
"“This one might be surprising, but remember that Miami did not field a basketball team from 1971-1985. Strange, yes, but true. So the school losing 14 seasons helps ensure Larrañaga as top coach here.The U is relatively light on hoops history, but “Coach L,” as he’s referred to by his players, has made a pair of Sweet 16s and helped Miami land a No. 2 seed and a No. 3 seed since he got the job in 2011. Larrañaga’s 190 wins are the most in school history.He’s 70 now and will obviously end his esteemed career in Coral Gables, Florida. Does he have one more deep tourney run in him, is the question. Miami was critiqued by some when it hired Larrañaga nine years ago, but those critics have been proven wrong and Larrañaga’s had the last laugh.He’s the best coach in George Mason and Miami history”"
The past two seasons have been tough to handle as a Hurricanes fan, but the blame cannot be put on Larrañaga. The FBI’s wire fraud investigation cast a dark cloud over the program. Yet, it was an investigation that found nothing wrong with the Hurricanes and ended up clearing the Miami basketball program.
But the damage was already done; Miami lost its opportunity to recruit entirely for the 2018 class at that point — a massive step backward that Miami has wrongly paid for the last two years. So before you point to Coach L for Miami’s struggles the past two years, take a deeper look into why.
There’s no denying that Larrañaga has led Miami to its most memorable seasons in program history. With a promising 2020 recruiting class headlined by Earl Timberlake, expect Miami to compete for an NCAA Tournament bid once again this season.