Jim Larranaga to step down at Miami following 4-8 start

by:Jack Pilgrim•about 21 hours

Mar 12, 2024; Washington, D.C., USA; Miami (Fl) Hurricanes head coach Jim Larranaga reacts after a foul call in their game against the Boston College Eagles in the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Jim Larranaga‘s time as head coach at Miami — and likely in college basketball overall — has come to a close. Leading the Hurricanes for 14 seasons with 40 seasons of coaching under his belt, the 75-year-old is set to step down in a shocking mid-season departure.

Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald was the first to break the news with a formal press conference expected Thursday.

His resignation comes on the heels of a 4-8 start for the Hurricanes, who have now lost eight of their last nine games with their most recent being a 78-74 overtime loss to Mount St. Mary’s. Miami had previously fallen to the likes of Drake, VCU and Charleston Southern in its recent skid, the lone win since November 17 coming against Presbyterian on December 15. The program has lost 18 of its last 22 games going back to 2023-24, which included a 10-game losing streak to end the year.

Larranaga led Miami to the program’s first Final Four in 2023 immediately following an Elite Eight run in 2022. He previously led George Mason to the Final Four in 2006 while adding four CAA regular season titles, three CAA tournament titles, two ACC regular season titles and one ACC tournament title. Should this be the end of Larranaga’s career, he wraps up his time as a head coach with a final record of 744-508.

Miami associate head coach Bill Courtney will take over as interim coach for the remainder of the season.

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Kentucky defeated Miami 95-73 in the ACC/SEC Challenge in one of the Wildcats’ best games of the season in 2023-24, Reed Sheppard leading the way with 21 points on 8-13 shooting and 5-9 from three, followed by Antonio Reeves with 18, Tre Mitchell with 14 and Rob Dillingham with 12. It was Larranaga’s lone matchup vs. Kentucky as the head coach of the Hurricanes — though he did pull off a 56-54 win over the Wildcats as the head coach at Bowling Green in 1988.

A heck of a career coming to a close at 75, joining the likes of Mike Krzyzewski of Duke, Roy Williams of North Carolina, Jay Wright of Villanova, Jim Boeheim of Syracuse and Tony Bennett of Virginia to step down in recent years.