OT: Jim Larranaga Retiring

[How Sway?!]

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

Maybe he's just not a good coach anymore

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

But like 90+% of those guys are 70+ and ready to retire. The only coach I can think of that fits this narrative is Jay Wright. Maybe I'm just forgetting others though. Jim Larranaga is 75 years old, he was retiring regardless

It seems like their processes got sped up because of the current landscape. Nick Saban is another one and he mentioned NIL as a big reason too.

The structure as is is a mess that most coaches who pride themselves on teaching and development can’t really deal with. It’s the pros now which is why Belichick is giving it a swing.

But it’s just not good for the game in both basketball and football long term.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

People who took early advantage of the portal had that one year of crazy success
if you look at the top 25 today it is almost without exception the usual suspects .
After awhile the portal will achieve the exact opposite result . The rich will stay richer longer and the chance of a breakthrough team will diminish. Thankfully UConn is in a good position.
I think of us in the early years with a portal if we couldn’t keep guys like Cliff , Phil , Smitty
the task of program building becomes impossible .
The only exception will be even top programs will become exposed when a successful coach retires , which has always be the case

 

[John]

People who took early advantage of the portal had that one year of crazy success
if you look at the top 25 today it is almost without exception the usual suspects .
After awhile the portal will achieve the exact opposite result . The rich will stay richer longer and the chance of a breakthrough team will diminish. Thankfully UConn is in a good position.
I think of us in the early years with a portal if we couldn’t keep guys like Cliff , Phil , Smitty
the task of program building becomes impossible .
The only exception will be even top programs will become exposed when a successful coach retires , which has always be the case

can't imagine how it'd have been during the late Perno era, we'd have been doomed. Earl Kelley probably would have lasted one year here

 

[navery12]

It seems like their processes got sped up because of the current landscape. Nick Saban is another one and he mentioned NIL as a big reason too.

The structure as is is a mess that most coaches who pride themselves on teaching and development can’t really deal with. It’s the pros now which is why Belichick is giving it a swing.

But it’s just not good for the game in both basketball and football long term.

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

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

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

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Don’t know how true that is or not. But I’m not sure how you can argue the negative impact this has had on college sports overall when you’ve looked at everyone who has retired/left over the last 5 years. In both basketball and football.

Like everything, there are winners and losers. I’m sure it’s not fun for Larranaga now. Was no doubt a lot more fun when he took a team of hired mercenaries to the final four. It for sure makes the coaching and recruiting job more of a year-round slog though.

 

[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

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

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.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Like everything, there are winners and losers. I’m sure it’s not fun for Larranaga now. Was no doubt a lot more fun when he took a team of hired mercenaries to the final four. It for sure makes the coaching and recruiting job more of a year-round slog though.

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.

 

[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.