Miami departs for ACC Tournament: "We want to be one of those teams that the basketball tradition is as good as anyone in the country"

OPINION: Amid the euphoria, Miami Hurricanes basketball must tighten up its game as post-season arrives

Coming off a court-storming party vs. Pittsburgh that marked Miami’s second-ever ACC regular season title, coach Jim Larranaga and the team quickly turned its attention back to business. The immediate task at hand: Winning the ACC Tournament, with No. 1 seed Miami set to play on Thursday at noon against the winner of a game between Syracuse and Wake Forest.

Miami (ranked No. 14/13 in the nation) beat both those teams in their lone meetings this season.

On Tuesday afternoon, with buses waiting to whisk the team to the airport for the trip to Greensboro, N.C., Larranaga said that “We’re very excited where we are, but as everybody knows and I told the players, the ACC Tournament now is a sprint, everybody has the same record.”

“The message is win and advance, lose and go home,” Larranaga added. “We have to be at our best every single day.”

Larranaga also says after the home finale victory over Pitt hat clinched the top seed he told his players that it’s “a memory that will last a lifetime.”

“Winning the game, cutting down the nets, having everybody out on the courts – it took us 10 years to do that again,” Larranaga said.

The Canes are riding high entering the ACC Tournament, with eight wins in the last nine games.

Plus Isaiah Wong was named ACC Player of the Year yesterday with Jordan Miller a second-team pick and Norchad Omier third team.

“That’s very, very special,” Larranaga said of Wong’s honor. “Isaiah is a terrific player, he deserves ACC Player of the Year. And he’s so much fun to be around. He’s this quiet, nice young man who just works his tail off and whether it’s on the court or in the classroom, he is a great representative of our basketball program.”

This is a Miami team that has four players averaging in double-figures that can hit key shots at any time: Wong (15.9 points per game), Miller (15.1 PPG), Omier (14.0 PPG, 9.9 RPG) and Nijel Pack (13.6 PPG).

Pack was dealing with a leg injury suffered at Virginia Tech that cost him a game vs. FSU, but Larranaga says “He looks terrific to me … he bounced back and helped us beat Pittsburgh. We had a very nice practice (today) and he was his old self. He’ll be ready to go on Thursday.”

Wooga Poplar, the fifth starter, is also playing at a high level and is shooting 57 percent from three-point range the last 10 games.

“He’s had a sensational sophomore campaign, and he’s only going to get better,” Larranaga said. “He’s just scratching the surface.”

The starting five standouts are part of a team that has helped Miami earn plenty of national recognition this year.

“I care about perceptions – I want everyone to look at our program and think we’re a great role model for how an NCAA Division I ACC program should be run,” Larranaga said. “Perception is reality. Our players represent us so well.

“Everyone loves a winner, and our success has led to our players enjoying success. … We want to be one of those teams that the basketball tradition is as good as anyone in the country.”

Assuming Miami advances past the game Thursday, the team would most likely face either No. 4 Duke or No. 5 Pitt (FSU and Georgia Tech faced off in the first round game). The Canes split the series this year with both the Blue Devils and Panthers, with UM’s only other conference losses at NC State in overtime and the home shocker on a buzzer-beating three vs. FSU. If not for blowing that 25-point lead vs. the Seminoles, by the way, Miami would be riding a nine-game winning streak entering the postseason.

As for the top two seeds on the other side of the ACC Tournament bracket? That’s No. 2 Virginia and No. 3 Clemson.

Larranaga says the plan for his team is to hold a normal practice tomorrow (the team practiced today like a preseason practice) after learning the opponent.

“We’ll do the best we can having that one-day prep because the game is at noon and we can’t do anything that morning,” Larranaga said.

After the ACC Tournament is the NCAA Tournament, and it’s expected Miami will be a 3 or 4 seed. The Canes, of course, reached the Elite Eight last season despite being a 10 seed.

“Every team we face, whether in the ACC Tournament or NCAA Tournament, is really good,” Larranaga said. “There are no weak games, no cupcakes or anything like that.

“You have to be ready for every opponent. … The seed is nice to be the No. 1 seed (at the ACC Tournament), but no matter who we play we have to be at our best.”

WONG A JERRY WEST AWARD FINALIST

Isaiah Wong of the University of Miami men’s basketball team is among the five finalists for the elite Jerry West Award, as announced Tuesday afternoon by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Named after Class of 1980 Hall of Famer and 1959 NCAA Final Four Most Valuable Player Jerry West, the annual honor in its ninth year recognizes the top shooting guards in Division I men’s college basketball.

Wong joins Kansas’ Gradey Dick, Baylor’s Adam Flagler, UConn’s Jordan Hawkins and Houston’s Marcus Sasser on the list of finalists.

The 2022-23 ACC Player of the Year, Wong is also one of 15 finalists for the prestigious Wooden Award National Ballot.

A native of Piscataway, N.J., Wong is averaging team bests in points (15.9), assists (3.4) and steals (1.4) per contest. He is also third among Hurricanes in rebounding (4.4), while shooting 44.2 percent from the field, 38.1 percent on 3-pointers and 82.9 percent at the stripe.

Wong possesses the highest single-game point total in the league this year (36 vs. Cornell on 12/7/22) and is a two-time ACC Player of the Week, once earning USBWA National Player of the Week. He ranks sixth in the ACC in made free throws (121), eighth in steals per game and free-throw percentage, co-eighth in 20-point games (nine), No. 11 in points per game, No. 13 in field-goal percentage and No. 14 in assists per game.

Fans can support their favorite players in the remaining rounds by participating in Fan Voting, presented by Dell Technologies, starting Friday, February 10, on hoophallawards.com. The Fan Vote will count as one committee vote during the finalist selection process.

This month, the finalists will be presented to West and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The Selection Committee for the Jerry West Award is composed of top men’s college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers. The winner of the 2023 Jerry West Award will be presented on a to-be-determined date, along with the other four members of the Men’s Starting Five.

Wong and the top-seeded Hurricanes start ACC Tournament action Thursday at noon versus either eighth-seeded Syracuse or ninth-seeded Wake Forest at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C, live on ESPN or ESPN2.