Jim Larranaga opens up on excitement from Miami community with Final Four

Miami has run the table so far in the NCAA Tournament, defeating all four opponents placed in front of them to advance to the Final Four. The U may be one of the most recognizable logos and iconic brand names across college athletics, but this is the first time the program has reached the Final Four in school history. Head coach Jim Larranaga helped lead the Hurricanes there and spoke on the impact it’s having at large.

“Well I look around and we have about a dozen or two dozen cameras going here, the media attention has been from start to finish,” Larranaga said. “First of all we got tremendous student support and they cheered us on and helped us win the ACC regular season.”

With Miami ending the regular season with a 16-1 home record, it’s hard to deny the impact their students and fans had on their successful regular season. But in the postseason they took it to another level, recovering from an ACC Tournament semifinal loss quickly to go on a historic NCAA Tournament run. One that apparently comes with its perks according to Larranaga.

“And now we’re getting more media attention, not just locally, but nationally because of our run in the NCAA Tournament. We love that not just for our basketball program and our recruiting, but also for the university and its recruiting. We want the best students coming to the University of Miami,” Larranaga said.

This may be Miami’s first rodeo heading into the Final Four, but not Larranaga’s. Larranaga helped lead George Mason to an improbable NCAA Tournament run and Final 4 appearance in 2006 as a smaller school out of the Colonial Athletic Association. The Patriots defeated some of the biggest names in college basketball as a No. 11 seed, beating Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State, and Connecticut on their way to the Final Four.

The 2006 tournament run led to an 800% increase in traffic to George Mason’s official website, an increase in admission inquiries by 350% with out-of-state applications increasing by 40%, and nearly $1 million worth of sales in the 10 days leading up to the Final Four at the university bookstore. And if that’s the impact a Final Four appearance had on George Mason, you can only imagine the impact it’s having on Miami.

Larranaga and his squad will face UConn in their Final Four matchup this Saturday in Houston at 8:49 p.m. ET airing on CBS.