Miami AD Dan Radakovich reveals he attempted to talk Jim Larrañaga out of stepping down

Despite how the past season and a half have gone at Miami, AD Dan Radakovich says the Hurricanes wanted Jim Larrañaga to reconsider his decision to step down and retire. He wasn’t yet done with the coach.

At this afternoon’s press conference after the news on Larrañaga came this morning, Radakovich revealed that they asked him to change his mind when he told them on Sunday. However, he said that the decision was final at the first of this week on Monday.

“Coach Jim Larrañaga has decided to step down as our head men’s basketball coach,” Radakovich opened. “He first brought this decision to us on Sunday and, after we asked him to reconsider, his decision was finalized on Monday.”

With that, Radakovich says the issues within college athletics have claimed another all-time coach, especially as of late in college basketball and specifically within the ACC.

“This was solely his decision and, while I will let Jim share his thoughts about stepping aside, I do know that the past months have worn on him,” said Radakovich. “Like all of us in intercollegiate athletics, there is so much uncertainty – changing rules, name, image, and likeness demands from agents, unlimited transfers, etcetera. It can go on and on in these changing times. All of which takes so much time, effort, and energy away from actually coaching and it becomes a challenge to create a team atmosphere.

“In the past years, we’ve seen legendary basketball coaches step away from the game – Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Jay Wright, Jim Boeheim, Mike Brey, and, most recently, Tony Bennett. It seems clear to me that coaching in 2024 is a much different profession than it was just a few short years ago.”

With this, though, Larrañaga will leave with a 448-274 (.612) record after 13 and half seasons at Miami as their winningest and most accomplished coach in school history. That includes three conference titles, six berths in the NCAA Tournament which ties the total of every other coach in their program, and an appearance in the Final Four just two seasons ago in 2022. Still, in the season and a half since then, the Hurricanes are 19-25 as they’ve lost 14 of 19 since January 30th, including a 1-11 finish to last season and a 4-8 start to this current one as they’re currently on another skid of 1-8.

While this move, although in-season, may make sense, it’s still a surprise for their program ahead of the start of conference play for them on New Year’s Day. Larrañaga is now just another name to step away, though, with what all they’re having to handle at the collegiate level.