This was the most disappointing season in Miami basketball history

The Miami basketball team began the 2023–24 season with a lot of promise. Miami returned three starters from the 2023 Final Four season. ACC media picked Miami second in the preseason polls. Miami ended the season with a 10-game losing streak and finished with a 15-17 record.

The 2023-24 season was only the fourth in the history of the Miami basketball program with a preseason ranking. Miami began the season ranked 13th. Miami was 13th in the 2017 preseason poll, 17th in 2008 and 25th in 1999. The Hurricanes finished with winning records in the other three seasons they had a preseason ranking.

Injuries, inconsistent play, an unproductive bench, and a lack of effort, as called out by Jim Larranaga in February, all contributed to a losing record after beginning the season ranked 13th nationally. After magical runs in March in the last two seasons, Miami finished with its fourth losing season in the past six years.

Miami has had worse seasons, but the 2023–24 season was unquestionably the most disappointing. In 62 seasons of basketball, Miami has only finished with a losing record 19 times. The Hurricanes have had 13 losing seasons in 39 years since the rebirth of the program in 1985.

There was some promise early in the season. Miami began the year 5-0. Miami rose to eighth in the national polls. Miami won the Baha Mar Tournament with wins over Georgia and Kansas State (a 2023 Elite Eight team). Blowout losses to Kentucky and Colorado dropped Miami out of the rankings.

This season, the Hurricanes had the 19th-worst winning percentage in the history of the Miami basketball program. The conference-winning percentage was 25th out of 33 seasons Miami has played in a league. The expectations this year were not comparable to the seasons Miami finished with worse records.

The closest would be the 2008-09 season. Miami was 17th in the 2008 preseason poll. The Hurricanes were out of the poll by week. Miami finished with a 19-13 record, 7-9 and ninth place in the 12-team ACC. Miami finished 14th in 2023-24 in a 15-team ACC after finishing first in 2023 and fourth in 2022.

Injuries played a major role in the disappointing season for Miami. The Hurricanes finished 2-9 with at least one starter out. Miami had a full roster in the season-ending loss to Boston College. The 2017-18 team was without star Bruce Brown for the final 13 games of the season and still earned a sixth seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Miami was ranked for most of the 2017-18 and was 22nd in the final poll. This season the injuries were not solely about missed games. Several players played injured and did not put up the production that was expected of them at the beginning of the 2023-24 season.

Nijel Pack had two scoreless games and one with two points in the last month. Per Christopher Stock of Inside the U, Wooga Poplar led Miami, averaging 17.5 points per game and shooting 53 percent, before suffering an ankle injury on December 29. Following the injury, Poplar averaged 11.4 PPG on 37 percent shooting.

Pack finished with career-low numbers dealing with knee issues all season. Miami was unable to develop a bench to compensate for the injuries. The 2017-18 Miami team had depth to overcome the loss of Brown and finish third in the ACC.

Based on the last two NCAA Tournament runs and preseason expectations this was the most disapoitning season in Miami basketball history. Miami could have a transitional offseason. Everyone on the Miami roster has eligibility remaining. There will be multiple decisions for Miami players entering the 2024-25 season.