The Miami Hurricanes men’s basketball team used a furious rally to upset the No. 2 seed Texas Longhorns and advance to their first Final Four appearance in program history.
Miami made the Elite Eight for the first time last season and now advances further than they ever have in program history. They have five Sweet 16 appearances.
Miami is led by head coach Jim Larrañaga. The 73-year-old coaching veteran has been on the sidelines in Coral Gables, Florida for the Hurricanes since 2011.
He has led Miami to a 255-148 record and has taken Miami to six NCAA Tournaments.
Coach Jim Larrañaga's career before he joined the Miami Hurricanes
Larrañaga was born in The Bronx in New York City. He played college basketball at Providence College. He graduated in 1971 as the schools’ fifth all-time leading scorer. He was a sixth-round draft pick in the 1971 NBA Draft but elected to pursue coaching instead.
He won two Atlantic Coast Conference championships with Miami in 2013 and 2023 and one ACC tournament title in 2013.
In 2013, Larrañaga was named AP National Coach of the Year.
Larrañaga has been a head coach for decades. He began his career with Division II school American International in 1977. He then transitioned to Division I Bowling Green, where he coached for 11 seasons from 1986-1997, seven of which were winning seasons. He was also an assistant at the University of Virginia.
Larrañaga then made a name for himself at George Mason University with the Patriots. He led George Mason to one of the most miraculous runs in tournament history when they made the Final Four in 2006 as an 11-seed.
They were the first mid-major to make the Final Four since 1979. The team was the lowest-ranked seed to make the Final Four at the time. Larrañaga led the Patriots to winning seasons in 13 of his 14 seasons at the school. He led George Mason to five NCAA Tournament appearances.
He finally left George Mason for Miami after a 27-7 season in 2010-11.
Larrañaga won one Metro Athletic Conference title at Bowling Green and four Colonial Athletic Association titles at George Mason, plus three CAA tournament titles.
Larrañaga is 16-10 in his career in the NCAA Tournament. His George Mason team lost to eventual national champion No. 3 seed Florida in 2006.
Miami will now travel to Houston, Texas for the Final Four. They will face No. 4 seed UConn, who has been dominant in the tournament thus far.
Miami is the lowest ranked team still alive in the tournament. According to KenPom, they are ranked No. 22. The Hurricanes are +5.5 point underdogs against UConn.
Miami is +475 to win the national championship, third-best odds among the four remaining teams.
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