FreeGunston12
All-American
Heard his name mentioned with UVA too
Happy Retirement, Coach L
- Thread starter MasonFanatic
- Start date
Jokes aside that would be a great hire for them
2011WinOverVillanova
Sixth Man
Jim Larrañaga - University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame
Biography page for University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame member, Jim Larrañaga
www.umsportshalloffame.com
It's embarrasing that they beat us to putting him in an athletic dept hall of fame. At bare minimum he needs to be in a GMU Athletics Hall of Fame and quite frankly a GMU Athletics Hall of Fame needs to be done the right way with plaques, memorabilia, etc.
It shouldn't be done fiscal conservative half assed which is one reason we lost Him due to our cheapness regarding facilities and the program which is only just now being solved 15-17 years later with the academic athletic center they are building.
Pablo
Hall of Famer
What Bill Courtney brings to Miami as interim head coach
Longtime Jim Larranaga assistant Bill Courtney was named the interim head coach for Miami on Thursday.
caneswarning.com
"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."
"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."
Pablo
Hall of Famer
Coach L may be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame before George Mason re-launches its long-dormant Athletic Hall of Fame.Jim Larrañaga - University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame
Biography page for University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame member, Jim Larrañagawww.umsportshalloffame.com
It's embarrasing that they beat us to putting him in an athletic dept hall of fame. At bare minimum he needs to be in a GMU Athletics Hall of Fame and quite frankly a GMU Athletics Hall of Fame needs to be done the right way with plaques, memorabilia, etc.
Let’s be real, he (and some of us) might be in a nursing home or dead before Mason re-launches their Athletic hall of fame.
Pablo
Hall of Famer
Early look at potential coaching candidates at Miami after Jim Larranaga stepped down
Former assistant coaches at Miami, head coaches who have had success and a local coach are among those on an early look at potential candidates to be the next head coach of the Hurricanes after Jim Larranaga announced he is stepping down.
247sports.com
FORMER ASSISTANT COACHES WITH HEAD COACHING EXPERIENCE
"There are four other former assistant coaches at Miami under Larranaga who have gone on to be head coaches that could be given consideration for a return:
• Chris Caputo, 44, George Washington head coach – Caputo is the most logical of the assistant coaches because of his long-standing ties to the Miami program and Larranaga. Caputo was an assistant coach under Larranaga for six seasons (2005-11) at George Mason, including their Final Four season, and then was with Larranaga for the first 11 years (2011-22) at Miami. Caputo is recognized as a good recruiter with strong ties in the Northeast, where Miami has had plenty of success recruiting over the years. Caputo has guided George Washington to an 11-2 start this season after going 15-17 last year and 16-16 in his first year, which was the first time since 2017 GW was at least at the .500-mark. One of Caputo's assistant coaches, Lamont Franklin, at GW has ties to Miami too as Franklin was the director operations at UM for four seasons (2017-21)."
• Adam Fisher, 41, Temple head coach
• Eric Konkol, 48, Tulsa head coach
• Michael Huger, 54, Temple associate head coach
SIX HEAD COACHES TO KEEP AN EYE ON
"• Anthony Grant, 58, Dayton head coach -- The former Miami High star has racked up 352 wins in his coaching career with stints at Dayton, Alabama and vcu. Grant has Dayton just on the outside of the AP Top 25 with a 10-3 mark as he is aiming for his sixth 20-win season in eight years at the school. Grant has not coached in the ACC over his career, but was an assistant at Florida for 10 years (1996-2006) and could be eyeing the Miami job."
• Speedy Claxton, 46, Hofstra head coach
• Robert Jones, 45, Norfolk State head coach
• Chris Mack, 54, Charleston head coach
• Bashir Mason, 40, Saint Peter's head coach
• Will Wade, 42, McNeese head coach
NewPatriot
Starter
Here's my dark dark horse.
Penn State Associate Head Coach Jamal Brunt.
Mike Rhoades's Right hand man.
gopsusports.com
Brunt joined vcu following three seasons as assistant coach at Miami (Fla.), where he served as the team’s offensive coordinator. During Brunt’s tenure in Coral Gables, the Hurricanes reached the NCAA Tournament three times, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2016, and won 20 or more games each season. The 2015-16 team’s 27 wins were the second-most in school history, and that that squad finished the season ranked No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 10 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. The Hurricanes were ranked in the top 15 for a school-record 14 weeks that year.
He was an integral piece in landing the best recruiting classes in Miami history in back-to-back seasons. For the 2017-18 campaign, the staff inked three ESPN Top 100 players, including McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand Classic All-American guard Lonnie Walker. That class was ranked seventh nationally by ESPN, eighth by Scout and 12th by Rivals. In 2016, Brunt helped the Hurricanes assemble a recruiting class that included McDonald’s All-American Dewan Huell, as well as Jordan Brand Classic All-American Bruce Brown. The group was ranked No. 9 by 247Sports, No. 10 by Scout, No. 13 by both ESPN and Rivals.
In 2015-16, Miami’s offense was ranked 11th nationally in adjusted efficiency. The Hurricanes averaged 75.2 points per game that season, fourth-most in the ACC. Under Brunt’s tutelage, Miami’s .479 field goal percentage that year was its best since the 1988-89 season. Miami’s .749 mark at the free throw line was the program’s best since the 2001-02 season.
Penn State Associate Head Coach Jamal Brunt.
Mike Rhoades's Right hand man.
Penn State Athletics Official Athletics Website
The official sports website for Penn State Athletics. Learn about schedules, rosters, scores, and Penn State Nittany Lion players at gopsusports.com.
Brunt joined vcu following three seasons as assistant coach at Miami (Fla.), where he served as the team’s offensive coordinator. During Brunt’s tenure in Coral Gables, the Hurricanes reached the NCAA Tournament three times, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2016, and won 20 or more games each season. The 2015-16 team’s 27 wins were the second-most in school history, and that that squad finished the season ranked No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 10 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. The Hurricanes were ranked in the top 15 for a school-record 14 weeks that year.
He was an integral piece in landing the best recruiting classes in Miami history in back-to-back seasons. For the 2017-18 campaign, the staff inked three ESPN Top 100 players, including McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand Classic All-American guard Lonnie Walker. That class was ranked seventh nationally by ESPN, eighth by Scout and 12th by Rivals. In 2016, Brunt helped the Hurricanes assemble a recruiting class that included McDonald’s All-American Dewan Huell, as well as Jordan Brand Classic All-American Bruce Brown. The group was ranked No. 9 by 247Sports, No. 10 by Scout, No. 13 by both ESPN and Rivals.
In 2015-16, Miami’s offense was ranked 11th nationally in adjusted efficiency. The Hurricanes averaged 75.2 points per game that season, fourth-most in the ACC. Under Brunt’s tutelage, Miami’s .479 field goal percentage that year was its best since the 1988-89 season. Miami’s .749 mark at the free throw line was the program’s best since the 2001-02 season.
Maybe, maybe not, but let's take the rose colored glasses off. He was very hypocritical in his farewell comments. NIL and the portal are what bought him his elite 8 and and final four. Now that the NIL money at Miami is more scarce and he is struggling mightily, he decided to blame his leaving on that.
Another place where he was hypocritical is when he said: "But the opportunity to make money someplace else created a situation that you need to begin to ask yourself as a coach, what is this all about?" Isn't that exactly what he did to us in going to Miami? So it is OK for him to do it, but not for the players to do it?
I agree with almost everything you said here. While I don't disagree with it, ut the part about becoming a destination is just not very realistic short of us finding a billionaire donor that can elevate our funding of facilities, salaries and NIL to a P5 level.
I would be fine with honoring him in our Hall of Fame wherever/whenever that appears. I'd be fine with a small bust somewhere. Going further than that to me feels like we are trying to rekindle a relationship where the other party has told us long ago they are no longer interested. He has been at Miami almost as long as he was at Mason and he says things like "'It's still all about The U,'. We need to stop looking like the desperate Ex. Short of him donating millions to Mason, I am vehemently against naming the court after him or trying to hire him in some capacity, especially since it is very unrealistic in the first place.
I didn't interpret his comments as hypocritical - my takeaway was that the thing he loved about coaching was the relationships and developing players. They had a ton of talent this year, and got some top transfers. He was complaining about the turnover - having to replace kids - rather than having kids stay for 3 or 4 years.
Mason2006Patriot
Sixth Man
Coach L appears in this GMU Final Four documentary video tons of times.
So he is fine stealing Nigel Pack from Kansas State, but when it happens to him turnover is a problem. That is the very definition of hypocritical.
He didn't leave us. Mason did not do what was needed to keep him. You really can't blame the guy as we basically ran him out of town.
How would you feel at work if others are doing the same things as you but they are getting raises, etc. and you are sitting there getting shafted?
FreeGunston12
All-American
You can do what you need to without enjoying it.
Should he not have fielded a team?
He could have recruited only freshmen, but, then his team would have sucked. So he went for the win. He wasn't complaining about the system after his elite 8 or final four, only after it was no longer working to his advantage.
Guys, I am a fan of Coach L. He did great things at Mason. The issue I have is with the people trying to make him out to be a hero or saint. A true hero would have stuck it out at Mason and tried to fix things. A true hero, if he had a problem with the portal/NIL would have fought against it instead of taking full advantage of it to advance his legacy, and then blaming it after things started to fall apart for him.
Mason2006Patriot
Sixth Man
Coach L is a legend and always did things with class
I love Coach L. Would defend him to the hills, but his statements are just typical of the P5 outlook. Things were cool when only the mid-majors and low P5s were being raided, but now that everyone is on notice for players leaving for a bigger bag, it's a systemic problem. I do think it's gotten to the point where every school being affected means that something drastic will happen. Just need some of the court cases to run their course (which should happen in 2025) and then more of an overall structure (hopefully employment contracts) will be put into place.
Pablo
Hall of Famer
Jim Larranaga is a recipient of the Mason Medal, the university's highest honorary award - https://www.gmu.edu/news/2016-05/ma...cords-public-service-passion-higher-education
'I think everything in life is about teamwork,' he said, 'how people bring out the best in each other.'
The former George Mason University men’s basketball coach said he’s proud to accept the Mason Medal as recognition of those who supported him during his 14 seasons with the Patriots.
Larrañaga helped put George Mason on the map when he led it out of the unheralded Colonial Athletic Association to the 2006 NCAA Final Four. 'I might be the one being honored, but it’s really more about the great team effort we got from the time we arrived.' He credits then-university president Alan Merten with integrating him into the community.
He and his wife, Liz, established two endowed scholarships for the athletic department here. Though he has coached the University of Miami since 2011, he has always felt a special connection to the Patriot family. That was apparent in March, when he brought his Miami players to EagleBank Arena to practice before the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
'It felt like we were going home,' he said.
Larrañaga, whose 273 victories are a Mason record, and who finished his Patriots’ career with 13 consecutive winning seasons and five NCAA tournament appearances, said he lives by a philosophy based on attitude, commitment and class.
'If I don’t set the right example, if I don’t have the right attitude, if I don’t behave in a first-class manner, how can I expect others to?' he said. 'It’s all about setting the proper example, laying the foundation for success.'”
"Jim Larrañaga
Jim Larrañaga isn’t one for individual awards.'I think everything in life is about teamwork,' he said, 'how people bring out the best in each other.'
The former George Mason University men’s basketball coach said he’s proud to accept the Mason Medal as recognition of those who supported him during his 14 seasons with the Patriots.
Larrañaga helped put George Mason on the map when he led it out of the unheralded Colonial Athletic Association to the 2006 NCAA Final Four. 'I might be the one being honored, but it’s really more about the great team effort we got from the time we arrived.' He credits then-university president Alan Merten with integrating him into the community.
He and his wife, Liz, established two endowed scholarships for the athletic department here. Though he has coached the University of Miami since 2011, he has always felt a special connection to the Patriot family. That was apparent in March, when he brought his Miami players to EagleBank Arena to practice before the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
'It felt like we were going home,' he said.
Larrañaga, whose 273 victories are a Mason record, and who finished his Patriots’ career with 13 consecutive winning seasons and five NCAA tournament appearances, said he lives by a philosophy based on attitude, commitment and class.
'If I don’t set the right example, if I don’t have the right attitude, if I don’t behave in a first-class manner, how can I expect others to?' he said. 'It’s all about setting the proper example, laying the foundation for success.'”
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