Jim Larranaga compares Miami Final Four to George Mason run

After a robust second half rally in the Elite Eight against Texas, Miami earned a trip to this year’s Final Four. For head coach Jim Larranaga this is his second time leading a program this far in the men’s tournament. And after their exciting 88-81 come-from-behind win, Larranaga explained the difference between this Miami Final Four run to the one he had with George Mason 17 years ago.

“It’s the same exhilaration, just the jubilant attitude, the effort, because you just love when your player accomplish a goal they set out before the season. I’m a great believer in the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” said Larranaga. “The first habit is be proactive playing ahead. So always talking to the guys about planning, visualizing, seeing yourself being successful.

“But habit two is — what’s habit two? No, habit two is begin with the end in mind. And what we said the first day of practice, we’ve got to start visualizing right now what we want to accomplish and be working toward that every single day. And that’s what these guys have done.”

Sunday’s victory over Texas required an above and beyond performance from someone on the Hurricanes roster. And that is precisely what Miami got out of guard Jordan Miller. Miller led all scorers in the game with 27 points and tacked on three rebounds and two assists. The six-foot-seven senior guard from Middleburg, VA, had a flawless night shooting from the field. Miller connected on all of his free throw attempts going 13-13 from the line. He was also perfect from the floor connecting on all seven of his field goal attempts.

Jim Larranaga compares Miami Final Four to George Mason run

Needless to say, Larranaga was more than thrilled with the performance from his starting guard, who became the first player since Christian Laettner to score 27 points on 100% FG and 100% FT in the NCAA Tournament. Miller’s heroics was another topic of conversation for Larranaga.

“I’ve said it all season long, he’s the most underrated player in the country because he’s good at everything,” Larranaga said. “In the summertime, he had a 7:1 assist-to-turnover ratio in practices. Seven to one. That’s ridiculous. That’s better than any point guard I know.”

His offensive impact versus the Longhorns was obvious, but Larranaga also applauded Miller for his effort on the defensive end of the floor, where he had a block and a steal on the night while also playing some pesky on-ball defense.

“He can rebound. He defends all different-sized guys. Today he was switching ball screens at the end and keeping the guy in front of him. Last week he guarded Indiana‘s center Trayce Jackson-Davis, did a fantastic job on him,” Larranaga said.