Jim Larranaga emphasizes the importance of upholding culture through roster turnover

When building a program and establishing a culture — especially in the era of the transfer portal — there’s a unique balance that takes place. It’s not just about building a team to compete right away, but one that can see sustained success as the roster turns over.

That’s what Jim Larranaga sets out to do every year at Miami.

“That’s the whole key to recruiting: to find the right guys, the right pieces, that fit in with your culture. And that is what my assistant coaches do a great job of,” Larranaga said. “They know what I like, what I’m looking for, they’ve been able to identify guys that maybe somebody else said, ‘You know, they’re not going to be that good.'”

The portal can provide an opportunity to help establish the culture, though. One example at Miami is Charlie Moore, who played at Cal, Kansas and DePaul before playing for Larranaga in 2021-22. That season, he ranked third on the Hurricanes in points per game as they made a run to the Elite Eight.

That same offseason, Larranaga went into the portal and landed Jordan Miller out of George Mason. He was a key piece of that 2021-22 team, but emerged as a pivotal part of the Final Four run this past season, especially with the big game he had against Texas in the Elite Eight.

Those are two examples of Larranaga using the portal to bring in needed leadership.

“Charlie Moore … people worried about, ‘Oh, is he bringing too much baggage?’ Well, Charlie Moore was a great fit,” Larranaga said. “Coach [Bill] Courtney recruited him and told me you’ll love coaching Charlie and Charlie will love playing for you,’ and that was true. Jordan Miller, the same way. … Atlantic 10 player, an all-conference caliber player. But jumping up to the ACC and then, having to play with other really good players and try to figure out his role and during the course of his career, not only did he be able to contribute, but he just kept expanding his role. He just kept doing more and more really, really well.

“That’s why throughout the season, we called him the most underrated player in the country because he was so good at everything. I don’t think anybody knew that this guy was going to score the way he did, rebound the way he did, defend the way he did, assist the way he did and help us — look at the Texas game. He scores 27 points and leads us to the Final Four. Those two guys fit in beautifully.”

Prior to the 2022-23 season, Larranaga again dove into the portal to land Kansas State transfer Nijel Pack and former Arkansas State big man Norchad Omier. They both had multiple years of eligibility left and are expected to return to Miami this coming season. They also replaced some production when they arrived, and the staff is proving it has a track record of success in that regard.

Now, Larranaga said he wants that to continue.

“We’re constantly looking,” Larranaga said. “We brought in Nijel to replace Charlie and we brought in Norchad to replace Sam Waardenburg, and look how beautifully they both fit in. My coaching staff has done a great job, and I’m telling them they’ve got to do the same thing this year.”