Jim Larranaga Steps Down at Miami

Jim Larranaga took both Miami and George Mason to a Final Four

Another coaching legend in the ACC has fallen victim to the portal and NIL landscape, with Jim Larranaga becoming the latest in an increasingly long line of coaches across the conference calling it quits. News broke earlier this morning and was confirmed with Larranaga giving a 1:30pm ET press conference. He'll step down effective immediately, and Bill Courtney will take over as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Courtney has been on staff at all 3 of Larranaga's stops (Miami, George Mason and Bowling Green), with a head coaching stint at Cornell from 2010-2016 mixed in.

The 75 year old Larranaga was in his 14th season in Coral Gables, where he had compiled a 274-174 record with the highlights being an ACC title in 2013 (both reg season and tournament) as well as a magical March 2022 that included an ACC tourney title and Final Four run. Things went downhill rather rapidly from there with a losing record the following season. Miami brought in an intriguing portal class to try and get back to the tournament, but is off to a dreadful 4-8 start including home losses to Charleston Southern and Mount Saint Mary's as well getting swept as the favorite in the Charleston Classic MTE.

It was becoming clear that this is where this thing was headed, and stepping down feels like the right move. You can see exhaustion in him at the press conference talking about how after the 2022 Final Four, 8 of his players told him they loved Miami but wanted to transfer for new NIL deals. It's sad that's what college sports has become and is taking casualties like this 39-year coaching veteran as a result.