Kansas, Miami eye Final Four
Veteran coaches Self, Larranaga meet for first time
Jordan Miller played for George Mason for three seasons before transferring to Miami. So Miller was well aware of Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga long before he switched schools.
“Being at George Mason, it’s hard not to hear about his success there,” Miller said Saturday. “Coach L, actually, when I first talked to him, he actually said, ‘Do you know about my success at George Mason?’”
Sixteen years after he directed the Patriots to a memorable Final Four run, the affable Larranaga has another double-digit seed on the brink of the national semifinals. Standing in his way is Kansas and Bill Self, another highly successful coach looking to
make his own history.
Larranaga and Self have never faced off as head coaches, but that changes Sunday when the 10thseeded Hurricanes (26-10) and top-seeded Jayhawks (31-6) meet in the Elite Eight.
“When I think of his teams, I think of wellcoached, but I also think of freedom,” Self said. “Seems like to me he always has his teams playing with joy, with a free mind and aggressive offensively, which I think is a great trait to have as a coach.”
Self, 59, is looking for his first Final Four since 2018 and No. 4 overall in 19 seasons at Kansas. He received what amounts to a lifetime contract about a year ago, even as the school awaits a decision from an independent panel investigating five Level I infractions alleged by the NCAA.
Self is one of five coaches in NCAA Division I history to take three different schools to the Elite Eight, but he is 3-7 in that round of the tournament.
“That’s not good enough,” Self said. “It is a different game because it’s the hardest game in the tournament to not win. You can talk about first
round, you can talk about whatever, it’s the hardest game. The national championship finals, at least you’re playing for it all or whatever.”
The Jayhawks are the last No. 1 seed left in the tourney after they advanced with a 66-61 victory over Providence on Friday night. Led by Big 12 Player of the Year Ochai Agbaji and a rejuvenated Remy Martin, they have won eight in a row dating to a 74-64 loss at TCU on March 1.
Larranaga, 72, coached Miami to a 70-56 win over Iowa State on Friday night, putting the Hurricanes in the Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Once again employing an opportunistic, attacking defense.