Miami’s Larrañaga Leaves College Sports ‘Exhausted,’ Like Many Peers

Jim Larrañaga could handle—and repeatedly thrived—in the old college sports system, where athletes could only get paid under-the-table, even if that meant the Feds might subpoena his text messages. But the 75-year-old University of Miami head men’s basketball coach acknowledged this week that he didn’t have what it takes—at least not at this point in his career—to compete for talent in the unfolding open market.

This, despite the fact that Larrañaga’s 2022-23 national semifinalist team, led by Kansas State transfer Nijel Pack, became an early archetype for the new epoch of booster-funded NIL.

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In a surprise announcement Thursday, Larrañaga said he would be immediately stepping down as the Hurricanes’ coach, just two seasons after leading the program to its first Final Four. His current contract, which was extended in May 2023, ran through the end of next academic year. Miami is currently 4-8 this season after winning its first three games.

As a private university, Miami is not forced to disclose its employees’ contracts. However, in the school’s 2023 tax filing, which is public, it showed that Larrañaga earned $2.85 million in annual compensation.

“I’m exhausted,” Larrañaga told reporters in a press conference. “I’ve tried every which way to keep this going. And I know I’m going to be asked a lot of questions but I want to answer them before I am even asked.”

He explained he was “shocked…beyond belief” when, in the wake of the team’s historic Final Four appearance 20 months ago, eight of his players decided to put their names in the transfer portal.

Lamented Larrañaga: “The opportunity to make money some place else created a situation that you have to begin to ask yourself as a coach: What is this all about?”

Larrañaga’s chagrin echoes that of several other big-time college basketball coaches—including Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Virginia’s Tony Bennett and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim—who have retired in the four years since the NCAA’s rule changes that now allow college athletes to sell their NIL. Boeheim, incidentally, publicly accused Miami of having “bought” its Final Four team with NIL money.

Arguably, Larrañaga should be perfectly well-positioned to explain the forces of capitalism motivating his players to seek more money elsewhere. In 2011, at the age of 61, Larrañaga left his long-time head coaching job at George Mason—which he had led to its only Final Four run five years earlier—to take the reins at UofM. Prior to that, he had spurned other offers, including from Providence, citing his comfort and familiarity with Northern Virginia, where he had coached the Patriots since 1997.

The change of scenery quickly proved fruitful. In his second season, the Hurricanes won the ACC regular season title and made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA men’s tournament.

But Coral Gables would have its dark days as well.

In 2017, Larrañaga received a grand jury subpoena as part of the Department of Justice’s college basketball corruption investigation, and he later acknowledged cooperating with the authorities. Larrañaga was never charged or accused of wrongdoing by the government, but in court filings that identified him as “Coach-3,” he was said to have been mentioned in a wiretapped phone call between two of the defendants as soliciting Adidas’ help in facilitating a $150,000 payment to a recruit Miami hoped to sign. Larrañaga denied the allegation that he or his assistants were involved in any bribes to athletes.

“It’s been a strain—physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually,” he said at the time, according to the Associated Press. “But it’s something that’s there. I have to deal with it. And I have the support of my wife and a wonderful family. I have the support of the university and the support of my staff and players. So we just have to keep moving forward.”

He persevered, but the team slogged through three losing seasons following his subpoena. Then, in 2021-22, they turned it around, posting a 26-11 record and earning a berth to the Elite Eight.

A month later, the Hurricanes landed Pack thanks to a two-year $800,000 NIL deal with LifeWallet, the company founded by UM booster John Ruiz. With Pack leading the way, Miami went 29-8 the following year on its way to the Final Four.

Including Pack, now playing a fifth-year graduate student, Miami’s current roster sports eight Division I transfers.

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