Jim Larranaga

In his 12 seasons at the University of Miami, head coach Jim Larrañaga has led the Hurricanes to six NCAA Tournament appearances, including four trips to the Sweet 16. He has guided the Hurricanes to their first Elite Eight (2022), first Final Four (2023), first ACC Tournament title (2013) and first two ACC regular season crowns (2013 and 2023). Larrañaga has been named the Associated Press, Naismith, USBWA and Henry Iba National Coach of the Year, twice was both the ACC and USBWA District Coach of the Year and was the 2013 NABC District Coach of the Year.

The winningest coach in program history, Larrañaga has posted five 25-win seasons at UM – the only Miami coach to do so even once – and seven in his career. He also has recorded eight 20-win campaigns at Miami and 14 in his career. In conference action, the Hurricanes have won nine or more league games in eight of 12 seasons, while prior to Larrañaga’s arrival, Miami had never won more than eight ACC games in a season. Larrañaga has helped the Hurricanes to 30 postseason victories, including 11 in the NCAA Tournament (six appearances), 13 in the ACC Tournament (13) and five in the NIT (two). He ranks top-30 all-time among Division I coaches with 725 victories, including eighth among active coaches. In 2023, Larrañaga was both inducted into the UM Sports Hall of Fame & Museum and named a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame first-time nominee.

Miami’s 69 total road wins in the past 12 seasons are fourth-most among ACC teams during Larrañaga’s tenure and its 114 total victories away from home also place fourth. During that same stretch, the Hurricanes are fifth in overall ACC wins (120), as well as fourth in both ACC road victories (48) and ACC Tournament triumphs (13), plus sixth in ACC home wins (72). In the six years prior to Larrañaga’s arrival, when the ACC had only 12 teams, Miami was tied for ninth in ACC victories (36) and won just 10 total ACC road games. In nine of Larrañaga’s 12 years, the team has finished higher in the ACC final standings than it was picked in the preseason poll, including placing multiple spots higher on seven occasions.

The Hurricanes have a combined 16 wins over Duke (8-9) and North Carolina (8-10) under Larrañaga, tied for the second-most of any team during his 11-year tenure, after going 4-31 versus those two programs before his arrival. Eight of those victories are by double digits and seven are on the road, the former the most of any team during that stretch and the latter tied for the most. Miami’s 27-point win over the Blue Devils on Jan. 23, 2013, is the third-largest ever against the AP No. 1 team in the nation. It is one 31 victories over a top-25 foe under Larrañaga, including 13—five of which came in the past two seasons, 2021-22 and 2022-23—versus a top-10 opponent.

Miami has seen unprecedented fan interest in the program under Larrañaga. In 2017-18, for the third straight season, the Hurricanes sold out their season-ticket allotment at the Watsco Center. The 2015-16 campaign marked the first time in UM history that any team sold out of season tickets. Across the last two seasons, 2021-22 and 2022-23, Miami recorded four of the five highest single-game student attendance marks in program history.

From 2017-19, Miami was one of two ACC programs, alongside Duke, to have a player selected in each NBA Draft. Four total Hurricanes were picked in that span, including Lonnie Walker IV going No. 18 in 2018. During the last NBA Draft, Jordan Miller went No. 48 and Isaiah Wong went No. 55, making Miami one of 12 schools with multiple selections and one of 18 with six-plus draftees in the last seven years.

During the most recent campaign, 2022-23, Larrañaga guided Miami to its best year ever. The Hurricanes finished 29-8 (15-5 ACC), shared the ACC regular season title and earned their first Final Four appearance. Miami set or tied program records for overall, ACC, regular season (24), home (16), top-25 (seven), top-10 (three) and top-five (two) victories. The team ended the year third in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, good for its best finish ever.