Larrañaga officially steps down at Miami

[JosephReidBooks]

Well, at this point, the Miami season is kinda over. 4-8 with no wins against anyone in the top 250 and losses to the #235 and #282 teams. I mean, they practically need to win every single remaining game on their schedule to have much of a chance at a tourney bid.

As the father of a D3 college athlete, I'll just say that this really sticks in my craw, because I can imagine what this does to the members of the team. Larrañaga has made enough money off the backs of his players over the course of his long career that he can quit in the middle of a season and leave tons of money on the table--great for him, but what about them? They're stuck in the same lousy season, and it's not like they can just pick up and restart somewhere else (at least I can't see how it would work in the middle of a season, even if one of the transfer windows opens because of this), and I would imagine that quitting the team completely in the middle of a season would be extremely detrimental to their long-term prospects. So they're just stuck while Jim Larrañaga sits at the beach or his pool and drinks pina coladas.

I didn't think Tony Bennett leaving when he did was particularly great for the members of his team, but at least he did it to aid his assistant in getting the interim job so you could see a ray of altruism in there. Leaving in the middle like this just seems weak and selfish. If you're as committed to these kids as you say you are, play out the string. Will is stink? Sure. But it's about 12 more weeks. That's what the money's for.

 

[FerryFor50]

For all the hand wringing over NIL and the portal and how evil this all is we should all remember that Miami was arguably the FIRST big portal player when they signed first-team All-B12 star Nijel Pack to what was — at the time — an unheard of contract which paid him $800k over two years. It was the deal that blew open the world of NIL and laid bare the notion that players were being paid for their Name Image and Likeness. No, Miami was the school that was paying them to play basketball.

A year later, Miami laid a big offer on the table and snatched away one of the best players on rival Florida St, Matthew Cleveland. This wasn’t just a player going in conference, this was a kid taking the money to move to a huge rival.

So, yeah, Jim whining about how the game has changed rings a little bit less than completely honest to me.

Heck, Larranaga has always used transfers to build his teams up at Miami - pre-NIL. That’s partly why they did so well.

His first season at Miami, two of his top 3 scorers were transfers.

The next season, 2 of his top 4 scorers were transfers.

In 2015, he got one of the better transfers out of Texas - Sheldon McClellan. He got Angel Rodriguez from Kansas St. Those were his top two scorers.

2018 they had a down year. 2019 they got Kameron McGusty.

2021? Charlie Moore.

It’s disingenuous for Larranaga to complain about the portal ruining the game when he made his living from it. This feels more like Saban leaving Alabama because other schools could now pay recruits as well.

 

[sagegrouse]

Doesn't a 75YO on a losing streak get some leeway if he decides to retire? You folks are tough.

 

[uh_no]

Heck, Larranaga has always used transfers to build his teams up at Miami - pre-NIL. That’s partly why they did so well.

His first season at Miami, two of his top 3 scorers were transfers.

The next season, 2 of his top 4 scorers were transfers.

In 2015, he got one of the better transfers out of Texas - Sheldon McClellan. He got Angel Rodriguez from Kansas St. Those were his top two scorers.

2018 they had a down year. 2019 they got Kameron McGusty.

2021? Charlie Moore.

It’s disingenuous for Larranaga to complain about the portal ruining the game when he made his living from it. This feels more like Saban leaving Alabama because other schools could now pay recruits as well.

heavy plus 1.

NIL is a disaster and a half for coaches, but larry can't have his cake and eat it too on this one. He hired a bunch of mercenaries to make the final four, you can't turn around and complain that they behave like....mercearies.

I respect his choice to retire for whatever reason he wants...."too old for this" is perfectly valid...but he taints himself a bit in my book, IMO, for making *THAT* his reason.

At least say "I saw the game coming, played the NIL game as best as I could with some success, but I can't keep up with what it takes, so am stepping down"

 

[JosephReidBooks]

Doesn't a 75YO on a losing streak get some leeway if he decides to retire? You folks are tough.

No issues with his age. And if it was a sudden health thing, I'd understand that, too. My big issue is voluntarily quitting in the middle of the season, particular the middle of such a bad season. If he'd retired before the season started or waited until after it ended, that's different. But if you asked these athletes to commit to a season with you as coach, why aren't you willing to see it through for the final 12 weeks or so? The guy's salary last year was $2.5M--assuming that's divided evenly, he makes $48K per week, so he'd make about $577K to stick it out with the athletes he recruited to be there. His whole big complaint is the athletes' lack of commitment to him and to the program, but how is that attitude surprising when he thinks this is an acceptable way to go out?

 

[dudog84]

Doesn't a 75YO on a losing streak get some leeway if he decides to retire? You folks are tough.

I think it is all about the timing. I agree about the age, but he should have been gone several years ago, successful or not. I don't get these "live to work/make more money" people.

 

[Bluedog]

'Jim Larrañaga on why he’s stepping down:"I'm exhausted... What shocked me beyond belief, was after we made the Final Four, 8 of my players said they were gonna leave. You have to ask yourself, as a coach, what is this all about?"'

We are one of the teams doing well with the new landscape, for the time being. But honestly, the new college landscape sucks and I bet if we constantly lost all our players even after we reach Final 4 etc, and then have a hard time finding new players, many here would sing a different song.

This does happen to us including after 2022 when we reached the Final Four. Jon has just been on a ridiculous hot streak with recruiting that we're able to reload better than other teams. I guess it's the second part of your statement that doesn't apply to Duke ("hard time finding new players"), but we're certainly not immune to roster turnover.

 

[dudog84]

This does happen to us including after 2022 when we reached the Final Four. Jon has just been on a ridiculous hot streak with recruiting that we're able to reload better than other teams. I guess it's the second part of your statement that doesn't apply to Duke ("hard time finding new players"), but we're certainly not immune to roster turnover.

I don't think that's true when we haven't won it all since 2015 and only 3 ACC Championships since 2011.

 

[Edouble]

Or it might be an example of the widespread employment of Baby Boomers who are too old to robustly do very difficult jobs. People in power—whether they’re politicians or multi-millionaire coaches—don’t like to walk away until forced.

At least they can stick with a job for more than six months, unlike the Millennial/Gen Z job hoppers.

 

[chrishoke]

Here's the official video of Jim Larrañaga's announcement.

From his opening statement:

"You got to constantly ask yourself: are you going to give everything you have, the commitment that it deserves, 100% of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, and quite frankly I've tried to do that throughout my life and throughout my time here, but I'm exhausted. I've tried every which way to keep this going, and I know I'm going to be asked a lot of questions, but I want to to answer them before I'm even asked.

What shocked me beyond belief was after we made it to the Final Four, just 18 months ago, the very first time I met with the players, eight of them decided they were going to put their names in the portal and leave. I said, 'Don't you like it?' 'No, I love it, I love Miami, it's great', but the opportunity to make money someplace else created a situation that you have to begin to ask yourself as a coach, what is this all about, and the answer is it's become professional..."

From the subsequent Q&A:

"We went from having no one on NIL [2022 Elite Eight] to four guys on NIL [2023 Final Four] to everybody on NIL [2024 team with 15-17 record] and not getting better. I was like, that's my responsibility, I'm the head coach, I'm in charge of this, how do I make it better? And last year was a disaster. I felt like, not only am I disappointed in myself, I set a certain level of expectation for the program, and I have all the support that it should take. We should be competing for an ACC championship or even a national championship on a fairly consistent basis, and I thought we were doing that, and we were moving closer and closer to being able to do it, and then this happened.

So, going into this year, I've just felt like, okay, we need to get back to where we were, and I've got a great group of kids -- it's not their problem, right, it's the system now, or the lack of a system. We don't really know -- I didn't know how to navigate through this...

Now it's just so different, and guys come in, and it's a quick turnaround, and you can't really lay the foundation for what I'm about in that short a period of time, so I felt like, well, if I can't do this as well as I'd like, or I feel the university deserves because of the tremendous support that we get, then maybe there's someone out there that can..."

Very sad.
'

 

[Bluedog]

I don't think that's true when we haven't won it all since 2015 and only 3 ACC Championships since 2011.

Well, it's all relative. We lose all our players and the next season can be a top 15 in the country 2/3-seed type team with all new players. Miami loses all their players and becomes a team with a losing record probably 200+ in the country ... Not many can be near the top of the country after our turnover consistently. Obviously, our program has high standards but it's hard to be that consistent (save COVID year....).

 

[dlmzzz]

At least they can stick with a job for more than six months, unlike the Millennial/Gen Z job hoppers.

I can’t get behind this. It feels like we’re dinging people because they read the room correctly. I’ve been in my current job for almost 12 years now, and that’s worked well for me. But when my daughter asked if she should leave the bigger brand name company to go back to a previous employer and take an increased role for more pay, I told her she absolutely should.

“Why did you leave this company after working there for less than a year?”
“Because I got offered a bigger role, and I knew I could do a great job at it. And I have. Let me tell you about it.”

Coaches used to portray transfers as people who quit at the first sign of adversity. But maybe taking opportunities that are available to you just makes sense.

 

[TheTrain]

I don't think that's true when we haven't won it all since 2015 and only 3 ACC Championships since 2011.

I believe 2 ACC regular season titles since 2006 as well

 

[FerryFor50]

I can’t get behind this. It feels like we’re dinging people because they read the room correctly. I’ve been in my current job for almost 12 years now, and that’s worked well for me. But when my daughter asked if she should leave the bigger brand name company to go back to a previous employer and take an increased role for more pay, I told her she absolutely should.

“Why did you leave this company after working there for less than a year?”
“Because I got offered a bigger role, and I knew I could do a great job at it. And I have. Let me tell you about it.”

Coaches used to portray transfers as people who quit at the first sign of adversity. But maybe taking opportunities that are available to you just makes sense.

Agreed.

People act like loyalty isn’t a two way street. Schools have no problems recruiting over players, over promising, etc. so why shouldn’t players have the autonomy to find the right fit?

Similarly, if companies valued loyalty, they would work harder to retain employees rather than relying on an outdated idea of loyalty and “family.”

 

[Edouble]

I can’t get behind this. It feels like we’re dinging people because they read the room correctly. I’ve been in my current job for almost 12 years now, and that’s worked well for me. But when my daughter asked if she should leave the bigger brand name company to go back to a previous employer and take an increased role for more pay, I told her she absolutely should.

“Why did you leave this company after working there for less than a year?”
“Because I got offered a bigger role, and I knew I could do a great job at it. And I have. Let me tell you about it.”

Coaches used to portray transfers as people who quit at the first sign of adversity. But maybe taking opportunities that are available to you just makes sense.

I'm talking about the Millennial job hoppers who make countless lateral moves because they're "not happy" "not fulfilled" etc and usually take a 2-4 month sabbatical in between 6-12 month employment stints. Count yourself lucky if you have no idea what I am talking about.

 

[dudog84]

Well, it's all relative. We lose all our players and the next season can be a top 15 in the country 2/3-seed type team with all new players. Miami loses all their players and becomes a team with a losing record probably 200+ in the country ... Not many can be near the top of the country after our turnover consistently. Obviously, our program has high standards but it's hard to be that consistent (save COVID year....).

Of course, but you said "other teams" without specifying "most". Sorry if that seems pedantic but others are doing it better (or as good) or are not following the Duke model.

From 1991 (1st NC) to 2010 (4th), 4 NCs and 10 ACCs. 2011 was the beginning of the 1&D era for Duke, and in those 13 years 1 NC (and only 1 other Final Four) and 4 ACCs.

I just don't think 1&D has worked well for Duke.

I understand wanting to have the best players and also not wanting them elsewhere and possibly beating you. And I don't begrudge the kids taking the money, either NBA or NIL. The coaches have been taking the money for years. But I don't think it has turned out positively for Duke. We had a brand. Now we don't.

 

[Truth]

I don't think that's true when we haven't won it all since 2015 and only 3 ACC Championships since 2011.

The problem with the TOBY (Title-or-Bust) argument is that only 6 programs have won it all since Duke in 2015: UConn x 2, Kansas, Baylor, Virginia, Villanova x 2, and UNC.

Similarly, Duke is the ONLY program to have won three ACC Championships since 2011. (It’s also interesting that you select the year 2011 to minimize Duke’s 3-peat in 2009, 2010, and 2011.)

By all your own cherry-picked TOBY standards, and to BlueDog’s original point, we're (definitively) able to reload better than (nearly all) other teams! (italicized additions my own.)

 

[dudog84]

The problem with the TOBY (Title-or-Bust) argument is that only 6 programs have won it all since Duke in 2015: UConn x 2, Kansas, Baylor, Virginia, Villanova x 2, and UNC.

Similarly, Duke is the ONLY program to have won three ACC Championships since 2011. (It’s also interesting that you select the year 2011 to minimize Duke’s 3-peat in 2009, 2010, and 2011.)

By all your own cherry-picked TOBY standards, and to BlueDog’s original point, we're (definitively) able to reload better than (nearly all) other teams! (italicized additions my own.)

I'm not minimizing anything. Fine, where do you want the demarcation line to be? The only one that makes sense is Kyrie and going all in on 1&D.

My point stands. We were without question the dominant program for 20 years. If we're only going to win occasional championships (which I am fine with, despite your assumption), I'd rather do it with kids who are here a few years. YMMV, which is fine.

BTW, we won the 2011 ACC Championship WITHOUT Kyrie. Did you know that?

 

[Truth]

I'm not minimizing anything. Fine, where do you want the demarcation line to be? The only one that makes sense is Kyrie and going all in on 1&D.

My point stands. We were without question the dominant program for 20 years. If we're only going to win occasional championships (which I am fine with, despite your assumption), I'd rather do it with kids who are here a few years. YMMV, which is fine.

BTW, we won the 2011 ACC Championship WITHOUT Kyrie. Did you know that?

I'm not necessarily advocating for drawing a line of demarcation. My point is that nearly any line you pick will put Duke in a position of superiority to nearly every other program. We are very fortunate as Duke fans to have such an outstanding track record of consistent success. My greater point is that we shouldn't define success by TOBY outcomes.

I'll flip the question back to you tho: Which programs, in which timeframe, would you trade places with? (As in you view them to be overall more successful than Duke over the same stretch...). I bet the number is very small. And that's my overall point.

And yes, I am aware Duke won the 2011 ACC Championship without Kyrie. I was there.

 

[Maged]

Having attended Duke in the Lost Years of the early '70s, I find any argument that Duke basketball has under achieved in any 10 year span of time since 1990 to be terribly short sighted and smacking of privilege. I hope I have not ruffled any feathers.