Legendary George Mason Coach Leaves for Miami Hurricanes

The 14-season basketball coach who pioneered George Mason University’s run to the NCAA Final Four departed in a private jet paid for by the University of Miami early Friday morning. Larranaga had accepted an offer to take over the head-coaching job for a team that had failed to produce a winning record in Atlantic Coast Conference play since the 2001-02 season.

Reports had come out since the old Miami coach, Frank Haith departed, that Larranaga had been on the list for the new job, but the Hurricanes certainly could not put all of their eggs in one basket.  Larranaga twice turned down a job offer from his alma mater, Providence College. Admitted to the Providence Hall of Fame in 1991, the Friars had offered him the head-coaching job as recently as 2008.

"We offered him a very substantial package but he was too comfortable in his current situation and opted to stay at George Mason," Providence Athletic Director Bob Driscoll said Wednesday, April 2, 2008.

A few things changed since 2008.

The 2006 Final Four team had put the George Mason Patriots on the college basketball map as a national contender with name recognition, but in 2011, the VCU Rams took their ride to the Final Four under head coach Shaka Smart.

Smart signed a $1.2 million contract to extend his stay in Richmond during contract talks less than 100 miles north in Fairfax between Larranaga and the George Mason athletic director, Tom O’Connor. Larranaga made $525,000 a year and signed through 2016 according to a 2010 report, the fourth-highest for anybody employed by the state of Virginia. For the 2011 season, he made $700,000 including academic and performance bonuses. In Miami, it is reported that he will earn in excess of $1 million annually.

“I don’t know what Miami offered him. I guess it’s a lot,” O’Connor said. “We were able to put together a total compensation package that, in a good year, it would put him in the top-five mid-major coaches in the country.”

In addition, Barnes & Noble donated $1 million on December 8, 2011 to George Mason University, with “$590,000 going toward the Basketball Practice Facility Construction Fund and $140,000 for Intercollegiate Athletic Scholarships,” according to a George Mason University press release from 2008.

Larranaga wanted the practice facility to be built so that while the Patriot Center was hosting events during the season, the Patriots would still have a reliable backup that could be used on demand. Yet, for three years, there have been no plans to build the facility. O’Connor has called the construction of a baseball stadium a “need” and the construction of the practice facility a “want.”

Finally, CBSSports.com’s Gary Parrish reported that Larranaga and O’Connor had a rocky relationship at the end of Larranaga’s tenure, “pushing him over the edge.” This reporter found a source that verified that information.

“I thought [our relationship] was great,” O’Connor said. “I’ve known Jim since we played against each other in college … Through the years we shared stories about New York, New Jersey, New England. Had a great trip with the basketball players, with Jim in Italy this year. It was a terrific relationship.”

Wednesday night, Larranaga was getting on a plane from another recruiting effort to fill the spot left by Rashad Whack, who told the athletic department of his decision to transfer just a few weeks ago.

Whack was not a big loss, not averaging much time in the Patriots’ 27-win 2010-11 campaign, but leaves three roster spots to be filled by next season. Vaughn Gray and Corey Edwards have already committed, but still have time to remove their name from next year’s roster with the coaching changes.

Assistant coaches in college basketball bear much of the recruiting weight. Coach Chris Caputo was at the front of the recruiting efforts, often convincing the players to come while Coach Eric Konkol, a father of two, used his Wisconsin personality to get the parents on board with George Mason.

Recruiting is in a bit of a freeze. Coach Michael Huger called the recruits Thursday night to let them know about the possibility that Larranaga could leave near the same time that Larranaga himself called a players meeting for the same reason. O’Connor said he would call the recruits himself. Team sources say that Larranaga told his assistants to be actively looking at other opportunities.

“They’re employees at the university now,” O’Connor said of the assistants. “I have not talked to Jim about his desire to keep them with him … but I spoke with them and I told them, ‘It’s status quo, move on with your workouts, do your recruiting,’ and we’ll be with them on Monday. They’re terrific people. I’d love to see them stay around because they’ve done a lot to be part of the successful basketball program.”

The players have handled the early stages of transition well so far. Even without their de facto team leader, Cam Long, who ended his career in the NCAA tournament, other players have stepped up to take the lead. The team has not seen much change in the last few years.

“About 1:30 I went over to the Patriot Center in the locker room and told them exactly what was happening,” O’Connor said.

Larranaga had always been their coach and next year, four of the five starters will be in their fourth year out of high school and third year on the starting five.

Mike Morrison, presumed to be next year’s starting senior forward, seemed to take the lead.

“In fact, I ran into Michael Morrison over at the Field House,” O’Connor said. “And he was on the way, Michael was very, I love Michael, and he was very upbeat and he understood Coach Larranaga’s leaving and told him we were going to get the best coach available and he understood that and he looked at it in a very mature way.”

But when asked if Morrison’s sentiments spoke for the entire team, O’Connor admitted, “I don’t know.” Team sources have said that at least one other player was not happy with his role on the team and was thinking of seeking a transfer. He will most likely wait to see who the new coach is, and how he fits into the new program, before pursuing other options.

When all is said and done, the core of the team should still be here next year, and the head coaching spot is a coveted one. The Patriots have been touted as a preseason top-25 team, so O’Connor has a large pool to choose from. Among the names of possible head coaches are Bill Courtney, a former Mason assistant now the head coach at Cornell, Mike Longeran of Vermont, Jeff Jones of American and Mike Rhoads of VCU.

Maybe Larranaga needed more money. Maybe he needed to settle down near his home in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. Maybe he needed another challenge of bringing a team to national recognition.

With the Miami Hurricanes, he gets all three.