Why did Jim Larrañaga decide to retire from Miami mid-season? Former Hurricanes coach explains decision

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Miami basketball coach Jim Larrañaga dropped a stunner Thursday within college basketball with his retirement after a 4-8 start to the 2024-25 season.

It’s a decision by the 75-year-old coach that continues the trend of legendary college basketball coaches to hang the clipboard up, so to speak, as the current environment of college athletics continues to shift to a more “professional” daily operation.

Larrañaga ends his tenure in Coral Gables, Florida with a 274-174 overall record, and a Final Four appearance, the only such appearance in Miami basketball history.

REQUIRED READING: Legendary Hurricanes basketball coach Jim Larrañaga reportedly stepping down mid-season

As noted by The Athletic’s Brendan Marks, Larrañaga’s decision to retire makes him the sixth ACC coach to depart the conference (and college basketball) since 2020. UNC’s Roy Williams, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Syracuse’s Jim Boehim, Notre Dame’s Mike Brey and Virginia’s Tony Bennett are the others.

The Hurricanes went to the Elite Eight and Final Four under Larrañaga in 2022 and 2023 respectively, which also marked the first for both in program history.

Miami, which is coming off a loss to Mount St. Mary’s on Dec. 21, returns to action on New Year’s Day at Boston College. Associate head coach Bill Courtney will serve as the Hurricanes interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

With that, what you need to know on why Larrañaga decided to retire in the middle of the current college basketball season:

Why did Jim Larrañaga retire from Miami basketball?

Larrañaga pointed to the changing climate of college basketball (and college athletics) with name, image and likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal for the reasons why he is retiring from coaching.

The 75-year-old coach said multiple times during his news conference that he began reflecting on the thought of retirement because of NIL and the transfer portal after Miami lost in the Final Four to UConn in 2023.

“I’ve tried every which way to keep this going…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-did-jim-larra-aga-195405126.html

Author : Palm Beach Daily News

Publish date : 2024-12-26 19:54:00

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