Jim Larranaga

Jim Larranaga
Jim Larranaga
Sport(s)	Basketball
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	University of Miami
Conference	ACC
Biographical details
Born	October 2, 1949 (1949-10-02)
Place of birth	The Bronx, New York, USA
Playing career
1967–1971	Providence
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1971–1976 1977–1979 1979–1986 1986–1997 1997–2011 2011–	Davidson (asst.) American International Virginia (asst.) Bowling Green George Mason Miami
Head coaching record
Overall	470–334 (.584)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
CAA Tournament Championship (1999, 2001, 2008) CAA Regular Season Championship (1999, 2000, 2006, 2011) MAC Regular Season Championship (1997) Regional Final Four (2006)
Awards
Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award (2006) CAA Coach of the Year (1999, 2011) MAC Coach of the Year (1997)

James Larranaga ( /ˌlɛərəˈneɪɡə/ lair-ə-nay-gə; born October 2, 1949) is an American college basketball coach and the head coach of the University of Miami men's basketball program. He was most notably the men's basketball coach of George Mason where he coached the Patriots to 13 consecutive winning seasons and became a media sensation during the Patriots' improbable run to the Final Four of the 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

Biography

Early life and education

Growing up in the Bronx, one of six children, Larranaga attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, where he starred on the basketball varsity under coach Jack Curran, graduating in 1967. He went on to play basketball at Providence College, He was the basketball team captain as a senior, 1970–71, leading Providence College to a 20–8 record and a NIT appearance. He graduated as the school’s fifth all-time leading scorer with 1,258 points and was the team’s top scorer as a sophomore and junior, being named New England’s Division I Sophomore of the Year in 1969. (Larranaga's time at Providence was recognized with his induction into the Providence College Hall of Fame in 1991.) He graduated from Providence in 1971 with an economics degree, and was selected in the sixth round of the 1971 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. He never sought an NBA career, opting instead to go into coaching.

Coaching career

Immediately after graduating from Providence, he took a job as an assistant to Terry Holland at Davidson College, also serving as the freshman team coach. In his five years under Holland, Davidson won three regular-season Southern Conference titles and reached the NIT once, and he also amassed a 47–12 record as freshman coach. In 1976, he moved to Belgium in order to serve as player-coach for a professional club, but only stayed there for one season.

He returned to the U.S. in 1977 for his first head coaching job at American International College, a Division II program which had losing records in the previous five years. In two years at AIC, his teams had a 28–25 record, including a win against Northeastern University, who was coached by Jim Calhoun at that time. In 1979, he was reunited with his former Davidson mentor Holland, who by now had become the head coach at the University of Virginia. Larranaga became an assistant at a program that had begun to emerge as a power in the ACC, arriving at the same time as highly touted freshman Ralph Sampson. In seven seasons at Virginia, Larranaga was on the bench for an NIT title in 1980 and NCAA Final Four berths in 1981 and 1984.

Bowling Green

In 1986, Larranaga left Virginia for the head coaching job at Bowling Green State University. In his first season there, the Falcons improved by eight games over the 1985–86 season, finishing 15–14. He went on to record a 170–144 record in 11 years there, and was only the second coach in Bowling Green history to take the Falcons to postseason play in consecutive years (the 1990 and 1991 editions of the NIT). During his tenure at Bowling Green the Falcons defeated the perennial national powers Kentucky, Michigan State (twice), Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue. In his final season at Bowling Green (1996–97), he led the Falcons to a regular-season co-championship in the Mid-American Conference and another NIT berth, and was also named the conference's Coach of the Year. He left Bowling Green as the second-winningest coach in school history, as well as one of the winningest coaches in the Mid-American Conference. One notable NBA player who played for Larranaga was guard Antonio Daniels, who was selected fourth overall in the 1997 draft.

George Mason

Larranaga arrived at George Mason in 1997. His first team only went 9–18, but signs of improvement were present. In the 1998–99 season, the Patriots went 19–11, won the school's first Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title in history, and won the conference tournament to advance to the NCAA tournament. The Patriots would again go to the NCAA tournament in 2001 and two NITs in 2002 and 2004. The 2004 team was notable as Mason's first 20-win team in 14 years, and also won consecutive postseason games for the first time in school history.

2004–05 season

Main article: 2004–05 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team

The 2004–05 team, with three junior starters but dominated by freshmen and sophomores, went 16–13. However, these players would prove themselves the following season.

2005–06: The dream season

Main article: 2005–06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team

The Patriots entered the 2005–06 season as a strong contender for the CAA title. They entered the conference tournament 22–6, finishing in a tie for the regular-season title with UNC Wilmington. Near the end of the regular season, they were briefly ranked in the Top 25 in the ESPN/USA Today poll, the school's first ranking ever, and were on the brink of making it to the Associated Press poll. They also narrowly lost to Wake Forest and Mississippi State, and survived a tough match at Wichita State in the ESPN-sponsored BracketBusters event.

However, from Mason's perspective, the CAA tournament would not live up to their expectations. The Patriots survived an overtime scare in the quarterfinals from Georgia State, and then lost to Hofstra in the semifinals. During that match, starting guard Tony Skinn hit a Hofstra player below the belt, earning a one-game suspension for his action. Many observers considered Mason to be "on the bubble" for an NCAA bid; some believed that Skinn's suspension would lead the NCAA Selection Committee to leave Mason out of the field. However, the committee put the Patriots in the field, making them the first at-large team from the CAA in 20 years. Some commentators, notably Billy Packer, criticized Mason's entry in the tournament.

The Patriots would enter the tournament as a #11 seed in the Washington, D.C. Regional, facing 2005 Final Four participant Michigan State. They pulled a 75–65 upset, giving Larranaga and George Mason their first NCAA tournament victory ever. Next was a matchup against defending national champion North Carolina. Prior to the game, Larranaga famously told his players: "Their fans think they're supermen. Our fans know we're kryptonite." The Patriots found themselves in a 16–2 hole, but climbed out of it to win 65–60 and advance to the regional site at the Verizon Center, about 30 minutes away from their campus.

They next won a rematch with Wichita State, controlling the game throughout and winning 63–55. That put them in the regional final against 2004 champions and regional top seed Connecticut. The Patriots trailed by as much as 12 during the first half, and by nine early in the second. However, they would storm back to make the game close the rest of the way. Larranaga would motivate his team during timeouts by telling his players that the UConn players didn't know what conference George Mason was in. He told them that on this day "CAA" stood for "Connecticut Assassins Association." Mason would win 86–84 in overtime, becoming the first mid-major team to make the Final Four in more than a quarter-century. Their improbable run ended on April 1 in Indianapolis when they lost 73–58 to eventual national champion Florida in the national semifinals.

Larranaga received the Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award for his accomplishments during this season. Larranaga's overall head coaching record going into the Final Four was 366–273.

2010–11: The Revival

Main article: 2010–11 George Mason Patriots men's basketball team

The 2010-2011 season brought great promise for the Patriots. Led by seniors Cam Long and Isiah Tate, the Patriots' campaign started off with mixed emotions as they dropped two games vs NC State and Wofford. From then, the Patriots sparked a seven game winning streak including a key home win in the 'Battle of the Orange Line' versus George Washington University. The following four games proved to be a test as GMU traveled to the University of Dayton, played at home versus the University of Delaware, and away at both Hofstra University and at Old Dominion University. After the lowly spell of dropping three of those four, the Patriots became red hot as they went undefeated during the regular season winning 16 straight games including a crucial conference game at Virginia Commonwealth University. Heading into the CAA tournament, the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll ranked George Mason as the number 25 team in the country, which was their first national ranking since 2006 when they made the improbable run to the Final Four. Senior Cam Long was voted first team all-conference and Coach Larranaga was awarded the coach of the year. GMU would fall from the rankings after a semifinal loss to VCU in the conference tournament.

In the 2011 NCAA Tournament, Mason was assigned a #8 seed and faced off against #9 seed and Big East stalwart Villanova. In a seesaw game, Mason pulled out the victory when Luke Hancock knocked down a late three, and Mike Morrison threw down a last-second breakaway dunk. In the next round, Mason lost to #1 overall seed Ohio State.

Other Achievements

As of February 2011, his 271 career wins at Mason makes him the winningest coach in the history of both the school and the CAA. He has won CAA Coach of the Year twice, in 1999 and in 2011. The latter award came after the Patriots reeled off a school-record 15 straight wins to finish the regular season, remaining undefeated at the Patriot Center, setting a school record for regular-season wins (25), and securing the #1 seed heading into the CAA tournament.

University of Miami

On April 22, 2011, Larranaga accepted the head coaching position at the University of Miami.

Academic activities

In August 2007, Larranaga was appointed as an associate professor in the GMU School of Management (SOM), specifically in the school's Executive MBA program. Although his basketball schedule only allows him to teach part-time, he is a frequent presenter in classes on leadership, management, and team development, and also often speaks at SOM-sponsored seminars. He had been a guest lecturer in the SOM since arriving at Mason in 1997.

Personal life

Larranaga and his wife Liz have two sons, Jay and Jon. Jim is also usually seen wearing Jordan jumpsuits around campus, and students have become increasingly aware of his "New York" accent. Jay is a member of the Ireland national team, and has also played professionally for Italian teams Eldo Napoli, Viola Reggio Calabria (1997–98), Adecco Milano (2000–2001), Lottomatica Roma (2004), Eurofiditalia Reggio Calabria (2004–2005)) and for French team ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne (1999–2000). In February 2008, Jay was named head coach of the Ireland men's senior national basketball team. Jon played for his father at Mason from 1999 to 2003, and has played professionally in Spain for Menorca and in Italy for Benetton Treviso (2003) and Euro Roseto (2003–2004). Currently Jay is the head coach of the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League. Jon's wife, Elyssa, was deputy director of scheduling in the office of United States Vice President Cheney.

Head coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
American International (NCAA Division II Independent) (1977–1979)
1977–1978	American International	14–13
1978–1979	American International	13–13
American International:		27–26
Bowling Green (Mid-American Conference) (1986–1997)
1986–1987	Bowling Green	15–14	10–6	3rd
1987–1988	Bowling Green	12–16	7–9	T–5th
1988–1989	Bowling Green	13–15	7–9	T–6th
1989–1990	Bowling Green	18–11	9–7	T–3rd	NIT First Round
1990–1991	Bowling Green	17–13	9–7	T–4th	NIT First Round
1991–1992	Bowling Green	14–15	8–8	5th
1992–1993	Bowling Green	11–16	8–10	T–6th
1993–1994	Bowling Green	18–10	12–6	T–2nd
1994–1995	Bowling Green	16–11	10–8	T–5th
1995–1996	Bowling Green	14–13	9–9	T–6th
1996–1997	Bowling Green	22–10	13–5	T–1st	NIT First Round
Bowling Green:		170–144	102–84
George Mason (Colonial Athletic Association) (1997–2011)
1997–1998	George Mason	9–18	6–10	T–5th
1998–1999	George Mason	19–11	13–3	1st	NCAA First Round
1999–2000	George Mason	19–11	12–4	T–1st
2000–2001	George Mason	18–12	11–5	T–2nd	NCAA First Round
2001–2002	George Mason	19–10	13–5	2nd	NIT Opening Round
2002–2003	George Mason	16–12	11–7	4th
2003–2004	George Mason	23–10	12–6	3rd	NIT Second Round
2004–2005	George Mason	16–13	10–8	6th
2005–2006	George Mason	27–8	15–3	T–1st	NCAA Final Four
2006–2007	George Mason	18–15	9–9	T–5th
2007–2008	George Mason	23–11	12–6	3rd	NCAA First Round
2008–2009	George Mason	22–11	13–5	2nd	NIT First Round
2009–2010	George Mason	17–15	12–6	4th	CIT First Round
2010–2011	George Mason	27–7	16–2	1st	NCAA Second Round
George Mason:		273–164	165–79
Miami (FL) (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2011–present)
2011–2012	Miami	11-7	2-3
Miami (FL):		11–7	2–3
Total:		486–443
National champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference tournament champion       Conference regular season & conference tournament champion       Conference division champion

External links

• Official George Mason bio