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Jim Larrañaga      

Head Basketball Coach of the Miami Hurricanes

In his 12 seasons at the University of Miami, head coach Jim Larrañaga has led the Hurricanes to six NCAA Tournament appearances, including four trips to the Sweet 16. He has guided the Hurricanes to their first Elite Eight (2022), first Final Four (2023), first ACC Tournament title (2013) and first two ACC regular season crowns (2013 and 2023). Larrañaga has been named the Associated Press, Naismith, USBWA and Henry Iba National Coach of the Year, twice was both the ACC and USBWA District Coach of the Year and was the 2013 NABC District Coach of the Year.

The winningest coach in program history, Larrañaga has posted five 25-win seasons at UM – the only Miami coach to do so even once – and seven in his career. He also has recorded eight 20-win campaigns at Miami and 14 in his career. In conference action, the Hurricanes have won nine or more league games in eight of 12 seasons, while prior to Larrañaga’s arrival, Miami had never won more than eight ACC games in a season. Larrañaga has helped the Hurricanes to 30 postseason victories, including 11 in the NCAA Tournament (six appearances), 13 in the ACC Tournament (13) and five in the NIT (two). He ranks top-30 all-time among Division I coaches with 725 victories, including eighth among active coaches. In 2023, Larrañaga was both inducted into the UM Sports Hall of Fame & Museum and named a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame first-time nominee.

Miami’s 69 total road wins in the past 12 seasons are fourth-most among ACC teams during Larrañaga’s tenure and its 114 total victories away from home also place fourth. During that same stretch, the Hurricanes are fifth in overall ACC wins (120), as well as fourth in both ACC road victories (48) and ACC Tournament triumphs (13), plus sixth in ACC home wins (72). In the six years prior to Larrañaga’s arrival, when the ACC had only 12 teams, Miami was tied for ninth in ACC victories (36) and won just 10 total ACC road games. In nine of Larrañaga’s 12 years, the team has finished higher in the ACC final standings than it was picked in the preseason poll, including placing multiple spots higher on seven occasions.

The Hurricanes have a combined 16 wins over Duke (8-9) and North Carolina (8-10) under Larrañaga, tied for the second-most of any team during his 11-year tenure, after going 4-31 versus those two programs before his arrival. Eight of those victories are by double digits and seven are on the road, the former the most of any team during that stretch and the latter tied for the most. Miami’s 27-point win over the Blue Devils on Jan. 23, 2013, is the third-largest ever against the AP No. 1 team in the nation. It is one 31 victories over a top-25 foe under Larrañaga, including 13—five of which came in the past two seasons, 2021-22 and 2022-23—versus a top-10 opponent.

Miami has seen unprecedented fan interest in the program under Larrañaga. In 2017-18, for the third straight season, the Hurricanes sold out their season-ticket allotment at the Watsco Center. The 2015-16 campaign marked the first time in UM history that any team sold out of season tickets. Across the last two seasons, 2021-22 and 2022-23, Miami recorded four of the five highest single-game student attendance marks in program history.

From 2017-19, Miami was one of two ACC programs, alongside Duke, to have a player selected in each NBA Draft. Four total Hurricanes were picked in that span, including Lonnie Walker IV going No. 18 in 2018. During the last NBA Draft, Jordan Miller went No. 48 and Isaiah Wong went No. 55, making Miami one of 12 schools with multiple selections and one of 18 with six-plus draftees in the last seven years.

During the most recent campaign, 2022-23, Larrañaga guided Miami to its best year ever. The Hurricanes finished 29-8 (15-5 ACC), shared the ACC regular season title and earned their first Final Four appearance. Miami set or tied program records for overall, ACC, regular season (24), home (16), top-25 (seven), top-10 (three) and top-five (two) victories. The team ended the year third in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, good for its best finish ever.

Speech Topics


Teamwork and Leadership: How to Achieve the Four Levels of Commitment

A team that can relax and have fun together is a winning team, Larranaga explains to audiences, describing the scene just before the Final Four competition when his players skipped routine drills to spend time with family and fans. Sharing his four tenets of commitment—physical, mental, emotional and spiritual—he illustrates how unconditional dedication produces exceptional results in athletics and in life. Larranaga shares: - His winning formula for creating a team that works together on the court and supports each other on the sidelines - How to create an environment that fosters team growth while promoting individual development - How to push players to their limits without wearing them down emotionally and spiritually

Attitude, Commitment and Class: A Winning Philosophy and Formula for Success

You can’t always predict external factors, but you can control your own behavior and attitude, Larranaga tells audiences. He shares the formula that has made him successful at both the University of Miami and George Mason University’s, one that helped him transform relatively unknown teams into some of sports’ greatest success stories. An educator first, Larranaga uses real-life examples from tough calls he has made on and off the courts to prepare his athletes for the game of life. Audiences will leave inspired, entertained and energized as they learn: - How to transform challenges into motivational opportunities - How individual attitudes can transform outcomes - How lessons learned on the court translate to other aspects of life, including professional careers and family life

The Art of Retaining, Developing and Recruiting Talent

Finding talented, hardworking employees who will uphold the standards of your company is difficult. Coach Larranaga shares his tried-and-true methods for recruiting players and assistant coaches and for creating an environment that keeps them on the job. Larranaga tells audiences about his 8 C’s—character, competitiveness, competence, consistency, cohesiveness, commitment, communication and confidence—which are the foundation for selecting a winning staff and team and developing a championship-caliber program. Audiences will learn: - How to develop a program that will elevate their organization’s performance to the highest level - Where to find talented employees - How to build a winning, dedicated staff

Leading the Way: How Jim Larranaga Took The University of Miami from Irrelevant to Champions

In the last decade, Coach Jim Larranaga has led two different programs from having no notoriety to being dominant contenders on the national scene. Most recently, Larranaga reinvigorated the University of Miami Hurricanes program from irrelevance to being ranked number two in the country and winning their first ACC title in school history—an accomplishment that earned Larranaga both AP and Naismith Coach of the Year honors. From the premise that “underdogs can beat the big dog,” Larranaga leads his team with a clear and well-defined plan that begins with recruitment and focuses on developing young talent. Audiences will learn how to: - Use an underdog status to their advantage - Compete without the same resources the big dogs have - Transform the underdog status into a winning mantra

News


Miami's Jim Larranaga Uses a New Defense to Turn Things Around ...
Jan 22, 2014 ... Miami head coach Jim Larranaga has always been well-regarded by using that method of evaluation, and not that anyone should be surprised, ...
Hoops Coach Jim Larrañaga Honored with YUCA Award | e-Veritas
Mar 7, 2014 ... CORAL GABLES, Fla. (March 7, 2014) – The Cuban connection continues for Jim Larrañaga. During a domino tournament held Wednesday ...
Coach Jim Larranaga's implementation of zone defense paying off
Jan 14, 2014 ... Last month, Jim Larranaga did just that. The Hurricanes coach knew something needed to change when he saw his team allowing “too many ...
Miami's Jim Larranaga reveals little-known secret about the ...
Syracuse Orange Basketball 2013-14: Syracuse vs. Miami Syracuse's C.J. Fair and Tyler Ennis trap Miami's Garrius Adams on Jan. 25, 2014, at the BankUnited  ...
UM basketball coach Jim Larrañaga rebuilding roster with talented ...
The season wrap-up news conference for UM men's basketball coach Jim Larrañaga came much sooner than it did the previous season.

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