Rival coaches taking shots at UM’s basketball success
It can’t be easy for these Atlantic Coast Conference universities in the Carolinas and mid-Atlantic to observe what we’re witnessing — a supposed “football school” rising to the top of the league and emerging from the first weekend of the tournament as the only ACC men’s team to qualify for the Sweet 16.
It certainly can’t be easy for some coaches who seem resentful — perhaps a tad jealous — when they watch UM flourishing in this new era of college sports, when players can benefit from their Name, Image and Likeness.
Ohio coach Jeff Boals became the latest to take a shot at UM. After the Canes’ 63-56 win against Drake on Friday, Boals tweeted about Miami:
“800,000 dollars will get you a second game and 8-25 FG’s.”
The tweet — unbecoming and borderline unprofessional for a college head coach — wasn’t even accurate. Nijel Pack, who has a two-year, $800,000 deal to promote John Ruiz’s LifeWallet, played well, shooting 8 for 15.
Isaiah Wong, who has an undisclosed deal with LifeWallet, shot 1 for 10 before rebounding with 27 points in Sunday’s win against Indiana.
Boals’ swipe at the Canes, which he eventually deleted, came a month after now-retired Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim told ESPN’s Pete Thamel that “Miami bought a team. … It’s like, ‘Really, this is where we are?’ That’s really where we are, and it’s only going to get worse.”
Jim Larrañaga has taken the high road on this; he has no interest in engaging in verbal volleys with other coaches. So have his players. “I’m not focused on that,” Norchad
Omier said Wednesday when asked about shots from other coaches.
Let’s remind Boals and Boeheim of a couple of realities in advance of UM’s Sweet 16 game against Houston on Friday (7:15 p.m., CBS):
Even before NIL legislation
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was passed last season, Larrañaga had led the Canes to three Sweet 16 appearances since 2013, just one fewer than Syracuse during that time.
The Canes aren’t violating
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any rules, but instead using them to their advantage.
They’re fortunate that Ruiz has eagerly become the ultimate Canes benefactor and the face of this NIL era. But the Canes initially landed Wong, among several others, without NIL deals, and Omier likely would have committed to UM anyway.
“Playing for Miami Prep, getting recruited in high school, I always wanted to play for Miami,” Omier said at the time of committing last offseason, calling it a dream come true.
Whether Pack would have transferred to UM (instead of finalists Purdue or Ohio State) without the NIL deal will never be known, though he has said he chose the Canes because of its track record with transfer point guards.
Shane Larkin, Angel Rodriguez and Charlie Moore — all transfers — led the Hurricanes on deep NCAA Tournament runs.
“All the point guards who had transferred here did well, and I knew I could learn a lot from Coach L and the other coaches here,” he said.
So there’s a real chance UM would have had this same roster without NIL money. Regardless, it’s irrelevant because the Canes are merely using the new rules to their advantage.
What does Ruiz think of these types of comments from Boeheim and Boals?
“I don’t think it’s their place to discuss NIL really,” he said in a text message. “I find NIL to be off the court while coaches should be focusing on the court. There is also a bigger picture here. Kids are learning, making money and helping themselves and their own family.”
You know how indignant and bewildered Canes fans felt after watching the Duke football beat Miami for the third time in five years last October?
That’s kind of like what the Tar Heels and Blue Devils and Cavaliers and everyone in the heart of ACC country must be feeling when they witness the Canes soar to the top of the conference and extend their season longer than any of them.
Does it surprise UM to have outlasted the conference’s Blue Bloods this March?
“The success we’re enjoying now is what we envisioned when we came,” Larrañaga said Wednesday before the team flew to Kansas City. “We’re one of the top 50 schools in the country. We want to be one of the top basketball programs in the country, like our football program and baseball program have done.”
At least the coaches at the tradition-rich Carolina schools and Virginia aren’t publicly trashing the Canes for winning, and winning big, within the rules. Next time Boals and Boeheim want to whine about that, here’s some advice: Keep it to yourself.
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Besides telling several
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broadcasters that Jordan Miller
is the “most underrated player in the nation,” Larrañaga said Wednesday that “I’m not sure I’ve ever coached a player that impacts the game in so many ways, offensively, defensively. [At 6-7], he guarded [Indiana 6-9 All American] Trayce Jackson-Davis for most of the second half and he scored at the rim. It’s really hard to score against that kind of size. [Miller] is a sensational player.”
Heat guard Tyler Herro
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entered Wednesday 40 for 40 on fourth-quarter free throws; no other player had shot more than 17 free throws without a miss. (Seth Curry is 17 for 17). In fact, no player this century has finished the season with as many fourth-quarter free throws without a miss. NBA records on this go back 27 years; and Brian Roberts has the most fourthquarter free throws without a miss in a season (31, in 2012-13).
Herro is shooting 92.7 percent on free throws and is on pace to break Ray Allen’s team record in that category (88.6).
New Dolphins linebacker
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David Long wasn’t pleased when Titans coach Mike Vrabel, in January, called him a “repeat offender” with soft tissue injuries. Hamstring injuries sidelined him for seven games in 2021 and final five games in 2022. Long said he was taken aback by that comment and he’s a “first-guy-in, last-guy-out” type of player.
New Dolphin lineman Dan
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Feeney said he was told there will be “opportunity” to compete for playing time. Feeney, who has made more than 40 NFL starts at left guard, could challenge Liam Eichenberg and Rob Jones at that position. Feeney has started 19 games at center and will back up Conner Williams there.
Barry Jackson: 305-376-3491, @flasportsbuzz