Jay Larranaga

Jay Larrañaga

Boston Celtics
Position	Assistant coach
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	(1975-01-30) January 30, 1975 The Bronx, New York
Nationality	Irish / American
Listed height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight	192 lb (87 kg)
Career information
High school	St. John's Jesuit (Toledo, Ohio)
College	Bowling Green (1993–1997)
NBA draft	1997: undrafted
Playing career	1997–2009
Position	Shooting guard
Coaching career	2008–present
Career history
As player:
1997	Jacksonville Barracudas
1997–1998	Viola Reggio Calabria
1998–1999	Peristeri BC
1999–2000	ASVEL Basket
2000–2001	Olimpia Milano
2001–2002	Paris Basket Racing
2002–2003	CB Gran Canaria
2003–2004	CB Sevilla
2004	Pallacanestro Virtus Roma
2004	Real Madrid Baloncesto
2004–2005	Viola Reggio Calabria
2005–2007	Basket Napoli
2007	ASVEL Basket
2007–2009	Juvecaserta Basket
As coach:
2008–2010	Ireland
2010–2012	Erie BayHawks
2012–present	Boston Celtics (assistant)
2013–2015	Ukraine (assistant)

James Joseph "Jay" Larrañaga (born 30 January 1975) is an Irish-American former professional basketball player. He is the current head coach of the Ukrainian national basketball team and an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics of the NBA. He is also the son of University of Miami men's basketball coach Jim Larrañaga.

Career

After graduating from St. John's Jesuit High School and Academy, Jay played college basketball for Bowling Green Falcons alongside Antonio Daniels. Here he played all four years for his father, Jim, setting BGSU records for three-point field goals in a game, season, and career. Before his departure to Italy in 1997, Jay became a three-time Academic All-Mac and attained a cummulative 3.4 Business GPA at Bowling Green State University.

Larrañaga joined Peristeri BC in Greece for the 1998-99 season. Larranaga then moved to France to play for ASVEL Villeurbanne, he also played in and won the 2000 French All-Star game. Larrañaga moved back to Italy in November 2000 to join Olimpia Milano however he moved back to France to play for the now defunct Paris Basket Racing.

Larrañaga then moved to Spain to play for CB Gran Canaria and CSF Sevilla. He then moved back to Italy to join Pallacanestro Virtus Roma and his former club Viola Reggio Calabria. He went back to Spain in 2005 to join Real Madrid Baloncesto where he won the Spanish National Championship. He then won the Italian National Cup with Basket Napoli in 2006 and 2008. Larrañaga retired after spending two seasons in Eldo Caserta and appearing in various All-Star games throughout his lengthy career.

In 2008 Jay was announced as player/manager of the Ireland team. Previous to the hiring, Jay was captain of the Irish national Team from 2001-2006.

Coaching career

Larrañaga entered his first season as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics in 2012. He spent the previous two seasons as head coach of the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League. In two seasons with the BayHawks, Larrañaga led his squad to consecutive playoff appearances while accumulating a regular season record of 60–40. He also established team records for all-time wins (60), wins in a season (32) and player call ups (12). During Larrañaga two years in Erie, eight different players received NBA call-ups. Prior to arriving in Erie, Larrañaga served as an assistant coach at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and before that he was head coach of the Irish National Team for two years. Larrañaga spent the summer of 2012 as an assistant for the Ukraine National Team under former NBA coach Mike Fratello.

In 2013, Larrañaga was interviewed by the Celtics to possibly replace Doc Rivers, but the job was given to Butler basketball head coach, Brad Stevens. In the 2014–15 season, Jay and the coaching staff led the Celtics back to the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Honors

France

All-Star

• All-Star game winner: 2000

Italy

Basket Napoli

• Italian Basketball Cup winner: 2006

Spain

Real Madrid

• Liga ACB winner: 2005
• Copa del Rey de Baloncesto runner-up: 2005

See also

• Basketball Ireland
• List of foreign NBA coaches