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Jim Larranaga, who led Miami to the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and tournament titles and a No. 2 ranking, has been selected The Associated Press' coach of the year.
Jim Larranaga made his mark as a basketball coach years ago at places like Bowling Green and George Mason. This season, with his Miami Hurricanes enjoying unprecedented success, Larranaga showed he has impressive footwork.
Some get paid millions to try and solve the riddle facing the Michigan coaching staff at the Final Four this weekend.
Jim Larranaga's second year at Miami ended about as sourly as possible. The Hurricanes' 16 first-half points were a season low. They made only 5 of 26 first-half attempts. Marquette contested some with its man-to-man defense, but Miami did manage to create some open looks. Usually the result was the same.
When Larranaga is introduced before Miami's NCAA tournament East Region game against Marquette on Thursday night, the applause at Verizon Center is likely to be very loud.
Which is the only region in the NCAA tournament where the top four seeds advanced through the first weekend? Yep, Verizon Center is stuck Thursday night with No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 4 Syracuse and No. 2 Miami against No. 3 Marquette.
The former George Mason coach has taken charge of what not long ago looked like a wayward Hurricane program, leading Miami to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, a 27-6 record and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Jim Larranaga was in the Miami locker room before a game during this regular season, talking about the importance of defense, when he decided words were not going to be enough to illustrate his point.
Larkin scored a career-high 28 points, eight coming in the final 2½ minutes, to help No. 9 Miami pull away late to beat North Carolina 87-77 in Sunday's final.
Louisville is the top seed in the NCAA tournament after a topsy-turvy season in college basketball, capped by another round of upsets over the weekend.
Louisville is the top seed in the NCAA tournament after a topsy-turvy season in college basketball, capped by another round of upsets over the weekend.
Green joins Maryland's Len Bias in 1986 as the ACC's only players of the year to come from teams with losing conference records.
After the Hokies' season started well, it quickly nosedived as their other perimeter scorers all seemed to lose their stroke, and confidence, at the same time. That left it up to Green to score more, but he hasn't been able to carry the team alone.
Miami Hurricanes center Julian Gamble learned about his team's latest ranking when he received a flurry of phone messages, including one from his mother in North Carolina.
A sophomore this season, Barry Larkin's son has blossomed into perhaps the best point guard in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He's a major reason the Hurricanes are ranked No. 8 and take a 9-0 league record into Saturday's game against North Carolina.
"The 2-3 zone is one of the most basic zones you face," explains Miami's Jim Larranaga, named Thursday as The Associated Press Coach of the Year. "What makes Syracuse's zone is the players. They're long, athletic and they cover a lot of ground. So, what appears to be an open shot is almost always going to be challenged by an outstanding athlete."
"Here's a `5" man coming out and blocking a shot in the corner," Larranaga said. "Not many teams have players with that size and the athletic ability to make that kind of play."
