OT: Jim Larranaga Retiring

[Deleted at users request]

Nick Saban is 73 years old, he was retiring soon regardless. And honestly, if these coaches don't want to get with the times and accept the transfer portal then good riddance and the sport will be better with them gone. It's a great thing for college basketball and football

I know we’ve have done well during these times, but there’s no need to put our heads in the sand about the overall environment of this.

It’s not like we need it to be successful. Even this years team has one transfers as a starter and he’s been here for 3 years. Reed has been huge too for us.

 

[AllHusky]

Kind of lame to quit during the season unless health reasons...which doesn't appear to be the case. Not as lame as what Tony Bennett pulled right before start of season but still should finish the job.

Good coach, will always dislike him though for G Mason Elite 8 win over good guys

Doesn’t seem like a quit mid season kinda Coach

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Two plucky up-and-coming mid-major coaches at the top of the list...

 

[uconnric]

I mean NIL and the transfer portal was pretty much solely responsible for his late career resurgence.

I think initially it may have helped but then it probably led to the ending of his coaching career. The Isaiah Wong/Nijel Pac NIL fiasco must've been tough on him. NIL is tough on coaches in general. He'll be remembered as a great player at Providence and a great coach.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Not accurate at all. His 2012-13 team may have been his best team. Shane Larkin, Kenny Kadji, Durand Scott, Trey McKinney-Jones, won the ACC regular and tourney but got bounced by Marquette in Sweet 16. But that team was super fun to watch.

I’m considering his late career resurgence the past few years. 2012-2013 was over a decade ago and his second season at the high major level.

 

[Purple Stein]

23-24 Kenpom ranking: 96
24-25 Kenpom ranking: 107

Maybe he's just not a good coach anymore

Something tells me it's about the Jimmies and the Joes, not the X's and the O's.

Slimy of Miami to push out a guy like Larranaga midseason. Will Wade would be a perfect fit.

 

[DFW HOYA]

Some concern will inevitably brew if Miami threw a big offer at Rick, not Richard.

 

[REB1094]

sad to see but not like Miami had any issues throwing bags of cash around for their own rosters

 

[WrenchFan69]

Two plucky up-and-coming mid-major coaches at the top of the list...

Will Wade might be the perfect guy for it. Good coach who has no issues mucking it up with boosters, buying players, etc. Did it before it was cool even

 

[Waquoit]

I don't think this is an indictment of the system. It's just a great coach who hung on a bit too long.

 

[navery12]

I know we’ve have done well during these times, but there’s no need to put our heads in the sand about the overall environment of this.

It’s not like we need it to be successful. Even this years team has one transfers as a starter and he’s been here for 3 years. Reed has been huge too for us.

I didn't say we need it to be successful, I'm saying it has made the college basketball product significantly better overall, and far more enjoyable

 

[John]

I didn't say we need it to be successful, I'm saying it has made the college basketball product significantly better overall, and far more enjoyable

far more enjoyable how?

 

[Vowelguy]

Will Wade might be the perfect guy for it. Good coach who has no issues mucking it up with boosters, buying players, etc. Did it before it was cool even

Call me crazy, but I'd be reluctant to get involved with someone investigated by the FBI and given the harshest penalty that the NCAA has for coaches.

 

[navery12]

far more enjoyable how?

I enjoy seeing kids who were under recruited out of high school and are really talented get the chance to play high major basketball when they succeed. Guys like Cam Spencer could have toiled away in mediocrity at Loyola before becoming a union rep, and is how a national champion and in the NBA

 

[Deleted at users request]

I enjoy seeing kids who were under recruited out of high school and are really talented get the chance to play high major basketball when they succeed. Guys like Cam Spencer could have toiled away in mediocrity at Loyola before becoming a union rep, and is how a national champion and in the NBA

Yes, players like Steph Curry, Ja Morant, Dame, and so many more needed to play for high majors before.

If youre talented and can play. The scouts will find you no matter where they are. Steph also made it further in the tourney at Davidson than his brother did that transferred to Duke.

 

[DogMania]

Nick Saban is 73 years old, he was retiring soon regardless. And honestly, if these coaches don't want to get with the times and accept the transfer portal then good riddance and the sport will be better with them gone. It's a great thing for college basketball and football

I don't think it's they don't want to get with the NIL thing. We're fortunate that all our players returned, we had a great 2024 class and picked up some good portal fits (let's not bring Mahaney up in this thread please). Many coaches both young and old are getting burnt out having to spend so much time and mental & emotional energy having to recruit their own players, HSers and portal transfers and drumming up NIL and just don't want to do it anymore. I'm sure it must take a huge toll on their family life.

Something has to change or more and more coaching carnage will follow. We're on top now which probably helped building our roster, but as much as I wish this will never end for our beloved Husky program, there will come a time when our program wrestles with this unless there are some changes, such as contracts that specify a number of years a player has to stay w/ maybe some buyout clause when they take a NIL deal. Maybe some sort of cap, though not sure how that would work. Pro leagues use salary caps and/or monetary attempted deterants when teams go beyond certain dollars, but that doesn't seem to stop some big spenders from outspending their competition. Just not sure if what we have now is sustainable where eventually the playing field will be reserved for the top donor programs...not that it hasn't pretty much been that for quite a while as long as those programs have good coaching. Some can spend all they want and still suck!

 

[navery12]

Yes, players like Steph Curry, Ja Morant, Dame, and so many more needed to play for high majors before.

If youre talented and can play. The scouts will find you no matter where they are. Steph also made it further in the tourney at Davidson than his brother did that transferred to Duke.

And all of that is irrelevant to everything I just said. If you don't see the difference between Steph Curry and Cam Spencer then this is a not a conversation worth having

 

[WhereistheDove?]

I just don’t think the current landscape pushes players and coaches to make choices based on coaching and developing people to be the best they can be. Which is not good to the overall game of American basketball if players are making decisions for the best payday and coaches are making decisions based on what can help them win as fast as possible.

A bunch of short cutting very important processes. To me it’s not as much about winners and losses of who is adopting to this toxic environment the best.

Counterpoint, getting Cam Spencer from Loyola all the way to UConn was great for the game of basketball. But agreed, probably a net negative on the whole.

 

[champs99and04]

And all of that is irrelevant to everything I just said. If you don't see the difference between Steph Curry and Cam Spencer then this is a not a conversation worth having

I'd be willing to bet that for every Cam Spencer there's at least one kid who regrets it. And I'd bet fewer Cam Spencer's would feel the need to leave if their teammates weren't also leaving. Then there's the kid that gets pushed out to make room for Cam...

None of that is to say the new rule is wrong, but over the long haul I certainly think it makes the fan experience worse.

 

[champs99and04]

FTR, it's not like coaches didn't burn out under the old way (Stevens, Donovan, etc.). I think it's a shame for the Wright's and Bennett's of the world (and maybe Hurley eventually) who built great programs that also seemed to work for the player, but on the flip side there does now exist the allure that you can re-build a program overnight. That's no doubt played a role in attracting aging legends like Pitino (or Belichick if you want to talk football) back to the sport that may not have otherwise have had the patience for a longer build.

And while coaches clearly dislike the NIL/portal overall, most of the guys who retire because of it simply aren't in winning situations. I bet if Providence calls Larranaga in 16 months and tells him he can have $3 million/year in NIL money in addition to a $3 million salary, he changes his tune. Coaches are still coaches. They like a challenge and a new toy to play with like anyone else. What I think you'll see moving forward is quicker burnout and shorter tenures, but I don't think the overall appetite for competing will dissipate as much as we might think.

 

[UCTitleTown]

One less 70+ year-old coach. Leonard Hamilton and Pitino the only others?

 

[ctchamps]

One less 70+ year-old coach. Leonard Hamilton and Pitino the only others?

Kelvin Sampson will be 70 next October.

 

[Huskyforlife]

NGL, the LifeWallet coach crying and quitting the moment his team stops being good is pretty lame. Jim is one of those coaches that works his relationships with the media to massage his image, which we're seeing plainly now.

 

[aceboon]

 

[gsmooth]

Yeah, I always thought of Jim Larranaga as a high class person, and I still think he is. But this tweet hit the bulls eye. Jordan Miller, Norcahd Omier, and Nigel Pack were 3 of his starters he got from the transfer portal due to high NIL. Not to mention Isaiah Wong got paid a humongous NIL package from what I read.

Jim whining about a system he was a great beneficiary of is not a great look.

 

[ucp990411]

Jim Larranaga is a very good high level coach that will probably make the Hall of Fame, although not 100% certain. Kenny Smith and others have nothing but great things to say about him.

I will say though I hated the image of him dancing and smiling and celebrating on the court after that Elite 8 win over UConn in 2006 and then saying the CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) stands for "Connecticut Assassin Association" in the post press conference. Seeing him sad and melancholy and hugging his crying players after UConn knocked him out of the Final 4 was very gratifying. The power of Dan Hurley. Thanks Hurley for getting that one back for Calhoun and us fans.

What makes him a hall of fame coach? Two final fours? Longevity?

 

[navery12]

I'd be willing to bet that for every Cam Spencer there's at least one kid who regrets it. And I'd bet fewer Cam Spencer's would feel the need to leave if their teammates weren't also leaving. Then there's the kid that gets pushed out to make room for Cam...

None of that is to say the new rule is wrong, but over the long haul I certainly think it makes the fan experience worse.

I get what you're saying, and people are certainly entitled to not like the way the transfer portal works. But in your example, the kid being pushed out to make room for Cam Spencer is not a high major player.

I get why people might like to see and root for a guy like Rahsool Diggins to stay at UConn for 4 years and develop. But this new system lets UConn bring in a PG that's their quality like Tristen Newton, and lets Diggins play at a school at the level he belongs and can contribute. Something that certainly wasn't gonna happen at UConn

 

[yungdowork]

I get what you're saying, and people are certainly entitled to not like the way the transfer portal works. But in your example, the kid being pushed out to make room for Cam Spencer is not a high major player.

I get why people might like to see and root for a guy like Rahsool Diggins to stay at UConn for 4 years and develop. But this new system lets UConn bring in a PG that's their quality like Tristen Newton, and lets Diggins play at a school at the level he belongs and can contribute. Something that certainly wasn't gonna happen at UConn

Back in the day, there were legitimate cases of people losing scholarships because the school they committed to didn't need them anymore. Now those players are free to go explore schools who do want them, keep their full ride, and continue to compete.

The system isn't perfect, but I think a lot of the flaws are overblown.

 

[UConnJim]

This is not a real surprise. Larranaga is 75 years old and I'm sure the rigors of coaching basketball in the ACC wore him down. Sure, the NIL game is disruptive, but he was one of the original disrupters. A really good coach, but his recent record indicated that it was time to go as he wasn't going to do a rebuild.

 

[gsmooth]

What makes him a hall of fame coach? Two final fours? Longevity?

Probably just the longevity and accumulating 744 wins in his career. But I am not saying that with strong conviction by any means which is why I sounded uncertain when I typed it.