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Jim Larranaga reveals if he's told his Miami players about his Final Four run with George Mason

275133747_4796292347117549_592518599057046758_nby:Jonathan Wagner•03/25/22•

Jonathan Wagner

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Kevin C. Cox via Getty Images.

Prior to becoming the head coach of the Miami Hurricanes, Jim Larranaga spent a lot of time as the head coach at George Mason. Larranaga led George Mason to five NCAA Tournament appearances, including an improbable run to the Final Four during the 2005-2006 season. That story is one that he tells his Miami players often.

Larranaga uses that George Mason run as an example for his players today, showing that it is still possible to overcome the odds despite being an underdog. Nobody expected George Mason to make that run to the Final Four, and Miami is in a similar spot this season.

The current players on Miami’s roster want to make it to the Final Four so that Larranaga can start telling stories about them instead of continuing to use the George Mason story.

“Sadly to say, they’re tired of hearing about the George Mason, and have told me, ‘Hey, let’s do what they did so you can talk about us in the future rather than them,’ Larranaga said.

“No, I’m a storyteller. I tell stories every single day in practice, in pregame, at halftime, what have you. I’ve always done that. That’s what my high school coach did. That’s what I’m doing.”

Larranaga, Miami are close to going on a similar run

Miami made it into the NCAA Tournament this season as the 10th seed in the Midwest Region. The Hurricanes have gone up against a higher seed in each of their games so far. But that hasn’t stopped them. Miami defeated 7th-seeded USC in the opening round 68-66 before dominating against 2nd-seeded Auburn in the Round of 32, winning 79-61.

Miami now faces Iowa State in the Sweet 16, and the winner will face either top seeded Kansas or 4th-seeded Providence in the Elite Eight in the Midwest Region title game.

“And the George Mason is a good story to share with them about being underrated, underappreciated, and even basically told you’re not even going to make The Dance,” said Larranaga.

“But with these guys, they’ve also created a lot of stories. So in preparation for our tournament games, we’ve shown highlights of them. We’ve shown clips and showed them about the stories they’ve already created and the memories they’ve created for themselves.”

Miami has already overcome the odds as an underdog throughout this season. But the Hurricanes don’t want to be done yet. Soon, this year’s team could become Larranaga’s newest go-to story.