Jim Larranaga explains what this run meant to Miami, how he handled Final Four loss

Miami head coach Jim Larranaga saw his second-ever appearance in the Final Four end Saturday at the hands of UConn. While the Hurricanes head coach is no doubt disappointed to have lost, he is also so happy to have been on the journey in the first place.

Larranaga was asked after the game what his message was to the team in the locker room after the game.

“I don’t know the exact words,” Larranaga said after the game. “But they got the message that I was so proud of them, that I loved them, that I really just been on a magic carpet ride with these young men. They’re so much fun to be around, on the court, off the court. They each have very unique personalities. And they’re going to be very successful in basketball for a very long time because all these guys are really good players.”

Miami made the Final Four as the No. 5 seed out of the Midwest Region and had the arguably the most difficult road to the Final out of any other team. The Hurricanes played the highest seed possible in all four of its games before the Final Four.

After defeating Drake in the opening game, they had to play and beat No. 4 Indiana, No. 1 Houston and then No. 2 Texas.

They did all three.

But it all came to an end in a 72-59 loss to the Huskies

“We didn’t play that well today and what I told the guys afterwards was simply that I used to watch a show growing up called ‘Wide World of Sports,'” Larranaga said. “The theme going into the show was the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. I said we experienced both. Last weekend it was the thrill of victory and accomplishing something that Miami had never done. Even last year, we got to the Elite Eight. We were not able to move forward. This year we did. But today was the agony of defeat.”

Larranaga previously coached George Mason to the Final Four in 2006 in one of the sport’s most famous Cinderella runs.

He knows that the loss hurts now for his team. But he also knows the memories they have won’t fade away.

“This will last a long time,” Larranaga said. “They’ll have great memories, though, of the entire season, some of the great wins we have had. I told them all along these memories last a lifetime. You’ll be telling your grandchildren about it one day.”