Miami’s Larrañaga, Kansas’ Self set for Elite Eight matchup
Jordan Miller played for George Mason for three seasons before transferring to Miami. So Miller was well aware of Hurricanes coach Jim Larrañaga 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 Larrañaga has another double-digit seed on the brink. Standing in his way is Kansas and Bill Self, another highly successful coach looking to make his own history.
Larrañaga and Self have never faced off as head coaches, but that changes Sunday
when the 10th-seeded Hurricanes (26-10) and top-seeded Jayhawks (31-6) meet in the
Elite Eight.
“When I think of his teams, I think of well-coached, 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.
“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.”
Larrañaga, 72, coached Miami to a 70-56 win over Iowa State on Friday, putting the Hurricanes in the Elite Eight for the first time. Once again employing an opportunistic, attacking defense, Miami grabbed 11 steals in the Sweet 16 for its 16th time in double digits this season.
Larrañaga has seven 20-win seasons in his 11 years at Miami. He has recorded seven of the program’s 11 wins in the tourney.
“I would just say going to the tournament, he always lets us know every day, hey, just be you,” Hurricanes guard Isaiah Wong, a Bonner-Prendergast All-Delco, said. “At the end of the day, just play free and just play together as a team and just help the team as much as possible. Play hard, and just be yourself at the end of the day. And I feel like with that feeling it just makes us even better as a team.”