After working as an assistant for Jim Larranaga as an assistant at Bowling Green, George Mason and Miami, Bill Courtney was named the interim head coach for the Hurricanes on Thursday. Courtney was an assistant under Larranaga in 1996–1997 at Bowling Green and from 1997–2005 with George Mason.
Courtney left George Mason in 2005 to become an assistant at Providence where he stayed for one season. Dave Leitao hired Courtney as an assistant at Virginia where he stayed for four seasons. After Leitao was fired following the 2006 season, Courtney was an assistant during the 2009–2010 season at Virginia Tech.
Cornell hired Courtney as head coach in 2010 where he complied a 60–113 record through 2016. After not coaching in college during the 2016-17 season, Courtney was hired by DePaul where he remained through 2019 when he reunited with Larranaga in Coral Gables.
After Miami advanced to the NCAA Tournament Regional Final for the first time in program history in 2022, Larranaga elevated Courtney to associate head coach. Larranaga mentioned during his press conference on Thursday announcing his departure that Courtney recruited all the players on George Mason's 2006 Final Four team.
Jim Larrañaga -- a winner of 744 games -- will step down as coach at Miami, effective immediately, later today, AP source says. Bill Courtney will be promoted to head coach for the remainder of the season. News conference this afternoon following team meeting.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) December 26, 2024
As a player, Courtney had the third most points scored in a season at Bucknell with 619 in 1990-91. Courtney averaged 20.0 points per game during the 1990-91 season and followed it up by posting 18.3 PPG as a senior in 1991-92. Courtney is 10th in Bucknell history averaging 14.6 points per game.
Miami will play its first game with Courtney as interim head coach on January 1 at Boston College. Virginia Tech hosts Miami on January 4. Miami will play its first home game with Courtney as interim head coach on January 8 versus Florida State. The Hurricanes are currently 4-8 overall and 0-1 in the ACC.
A national search is expected to find Larranaga's replacement. Courtney is not expected to be on the shortlist to replace Larranaga. Courtney would need to lead Miami to a drastic turnaround in ACC play to likely be considered as a candidate to become the Hurricanes' next head coach.