ESPN snubs Jim Larranaga as ACC Coach of the Year candidate
After being picked to finish 12th in the ACC in 2021-22 season the Miami basketball team has started 18-7 overall and 10-4 in the conference. Myron Medcalf of ESPN chose Steve Forbes of Wake Forest as the ACC Coach of the Year and Mike Brey of Notre Dame as “in the running” over Miami head coach Jim Larranaga.
Six Miami players transferred from the 2020-21 team. Miami also lost guard Harlond Beverly with a back injury four games into the 2021-22 season. That’s a total of seven players Miami had on the 2020-21 roster, not with the Hurricanes in 2021-22. Despite the losses, Jim Larranaga has led Miami to exceed projections.
Wake Forest was picked 13th, but far behind Miami. The Hurricanes received 428 points from the media. Wake Forest only received 274. The Demon Deacons lost seven transfers from their 2020-21 team. Miami finished 10-17 last season, Wake Forest 6-16. The Hurricanes have not had a winning season since 2017-18.
Wake Forest has not had a winning season since 2016-17. Forbes is in his second season coaching Wake Forest. Notre Dame finished 11-15 in 2020-21 for their second losing season in the last three years. Miami swept Wake Forest in the regular season while losing their only game with Notre Dame at home.
Miami's perimeter and experience makes the Hurricanes the potentially dangerous team in the NCAA Tournament. Jim Larranaga's squad wins at Wake Forest by four.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) February 12, 2022
More guards than Shawshank.
Duke currently leads the ACC with a 12-3 record. Notre Dame is second at 11-3 and Miami and North Carolina are tied for third. Miami holds the tiebreaker over North Carolina after defeating them in Coral Gables last month. The Hurricanes and Tar Heels will only play once in the regular season this year.
Larranaga has won the ACC Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2016. In eight previous seasons in the ACC Brey has amazingly never won the conference Coach of the Year. Notre Dame has had winning records in five of its nine years in the ACC. Larranaga is on pace for his seventh winning season in the ACC.
All of the teams currently ahead of Miami in the ACC standings were picked ahead of Miami in the preseason. Miami is ahead of eight teams who were picked ahead of them in the standings. The Hurricanes are tied with UNC and hold the tiebreaker over the Tar Heels who were picked ahead of Miami in the preseason.
dark. Next. Miami bracketology improving
How well Miami, Notre Dame and Wake Forest finish this season will influence the ACC Coach of the Year greatly. After Louisville, Miami hosts Virginia and Virginia Tech and plays at Pittsburgh, Boston College and Syracuse to finish the season. Those are all winnable games for Miami to end the 2021-22 regular season.