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No quit in Larranaga as he rebuilds his program

The coaching legends of the ACC decided this offseason that they had enough. Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, age 74, and North Carolina’s Roy Williams, age 70, both said they would be walking away, Williams immediately and Krzyzewski after a final victory parade this season.

Through all that you didn’t hear a peep from Miami’s veteran 71-year-old coach Jim Larranaga.

That's not a surprise.

“I actually think it's great for our basketball program because we battle against those guys every year in the recruiting process, and I think sometimes the decision is made before we even get involved, before we can get our foot in the door,” Larranaga said. “We don't know yet how that will change, but I would imagine there's going to be more opportunity for us to get involved with some of the very best players in the country, and we've already seen that in our recruiting efforts right now in the summer of 2021.”

That’s certainly not the sound of a man who sees the end anywhere in his horizon.

The truth is that Larranaga has been reinvigorated by some recent successes, from luring transfers Charlie Moore from DePaul and Jordan Miller from George Mason to Isaiah Wong and Cam McGusty deciding to come back to school.

And now he could be on the cusp of one of his greatest accomplishments ever. Miami is in the thick of the battle for Jalen Duren, a center who is the nation's top-rated 2022 prospect and is in the process of reclassifying to 2021. If Miami wins this battle in the coming weeks, the Hurricanes would be back in action as a top-tier ACC contender THIS SEASON.


"I would imagine there's going to be more opportunity for us to get involved with some of the very best players in the country, and we've already seen that in our recruiting efforts right now in the summer of 2021.”
— Jim Larranaga

"I like where we are right now," Larranaga said. " I would love for (veteran center) Rodney Miller's injury to be over with so he can be practicing. He's only allowed to do noncontact drills.

"But if you look at our roster right now, the addition of Charlie Moore is going to be great for us. He's a terrific player. He's a great teammate. He's a very good distributor of the basketball. He's a very good passer, find the open man, really pushes the ball in the open court.

"Having Isaiah and Kam back, they both looked at the NBA route. They both learned an awful lot about the NBA process. But for them coming back, we have two double-figure scorers at the wings that I think makes us a very talented backcourt. Charlie, Isaiah, Kam and now Harlond Beverly, back playing after the injuries he had throughout his sophomore year. So now, we become bigger and more athletic and then you add a transfer in Jordan Miller who is the biggest of this group and plays the guard position, can handle the ball, rebounds the ball well.

"So our perimeter game is very, very good. We have Charlie who is a sixth-year senior. We have Kam who is a sixth-year senior. We have Jordan who is a fourth-year senior, junior, whatever you want, because of eligibility, and then our two juniors in Isaiah and Harlond. So we have size, speed, quickness, experience and skill on the perimeter.

"And then (big forward) Sam Waardenburg is back from his broken foot. He's always been an excellent defender and rebounder, so he can play both the four and five position, and if necessary, he could even move three because he's a very bright basketball player, has a good understanding of the game. I think you're going to see that Sam is going to make a tremendous contribution this coming year. He's playing well.

"Deng Gak is much improved. He's finally healthy. I told Deng, the best thing I've seen from him is he's at practice every day actually practicing. Because he went the last year with only practicing half the time. So if we practice two hours, he practiced an hour. So today, we actually worked out, did skill development for an hour and a half and he was out there the whole hour and a half. He's going to be able to contribute. Rodney is doing the non-contact stuff. Sam, and then Anthony Walker, who had a very good sophomore year is back and playing even better, stronger and more mature physically, mentally and emotionally. So our front court has improved."

Larranaga is rolling now. You can hear the excitement in his voice.

"We are actually still recruiting," he said, indirectly referencing his courtship of Duren. "We'd love to get another big guy. We could still use some help in the front court. Anyway, we're in a good place right now.

"Oh, I didn't mention, but we have two freshmen that are here going to summer school, Jakai Robinson and Wooga Poplar, and they have already made a very, very positive impression. They are doing very, very well in all the drills and they are both very hardnosed competitors and skilled basketball players. So it's nice to have that kind of depth on our perimeter."

Miami is a veteran team now, which is a ticket to winning in any sport. Larranaga can clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel, which means a lot after the last couple years of flawed FBI investigations, waves of injuries and much more certainly worthy of leaving in the rear-view mirror.

"One of the things about college basketball these days is it's almost like you have to play right away as a freshman, have double figures and be considered an NBA one and done type guy," Larranaga said. "But quite honestly, the strength of our basketball program has always been in development and I think Wooga and Jakai are really going to benefit learning a lot as freshmen both offensively and defensively from an outstanding coaching staff.

"So we've got an experienced veteran group of coaches and I think these young players will learn an awful lot and whether it's their freshman year or after all these veterans graduate and move on or whether they step in next year, it's to our advantage to have that kind of depth."

If Miami wins on Duren, it would obviously be significant and would make the center position strong. Miller and Gak are really backup level players for a team that wants to contend for the ACC title.

But Larranga has contingency plans in place in case Duren moves in another direction.

""The way I look at it, we have three guys, maybe even four guys, who can compete for that position," he said. "Rodney Miller, Deng Gak, Sam Waardenburg and even Anthony Walker. Because so much of basketball today is a position-less game, and spreading the defense out and playing your most skilled and most athletic players.

"So those guys each play the game a little differently. Rodney Miller's offensive game is strictly in the low post. A guy like Deng Gak, his game is more of an athletic game, catching lobs and running the floor. Sam Waardenburg is more of a stretch four where he can go out and shoot the three, and Anthony Walker kind of combines a terrific inside game with a guy who can hit an occasional three. But his game is really one that has the most versatility because of his athleticism."

So retirement?

Yeah. It's pretty clear the thought has not crossed Larranaga's mind.

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