Public speaking is Jim Larranaga’s strong suit. So it’s no surprise he was spectacular in a press conference Friday night introducing him as Miami’s new basketball coach.
It can be viewed here.
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Larranaga talked at great length about his years at George Mason, thanking his players, the community, and GMU president Alen Merten, “one of the three most inspirational people I’ve ever been around,” he said.
“I am very excited to be here,” Larranaga said, with his typical enthusiasm, then he spoke about Mason.
“The last 14 years of my life have been absolutely wonderful,” Larranaga said. “George Mason University is an absolutely fantastic institution. Fairfax and the Washington D.C. area is an incredible place to live. My wife and I loved it from the day we arrived.”
After signing the contract with Miami on Friday morning, Larranaga returned to Fairfax for a 1:30 meeting with his players. He then returned to Miami for the press conference.
| Tidbits from O’Connor’s news conference |
| He said that the school recently agreed to increase salaries for basketball assistants. |
| “I don’t know the exact figure right off the top of my head, but it was a sizable increase,” O’Connor said. |
| O’Connor said he has instructed assistant coaches to proceed with recruiting and workouts. |
| “I’d love to see them stay around. They’ve done a lot to [contribute] to the success of the basketball program.” |
| Tidbits from Larranaga’s press conference |
| Larranaga said he initiated contact with Miami, indicating his interest in the job. |
| He said he would stress recruiting in talent-rich Florida and mentioned that two of his starters this year at Mason (Mike Morrison and Cam Long) are Floridians. He talked of his 2006 Final Four team at Mason that had five homegrown starters. |
| He said he was leaving a team that was being picked in the top 25. |
| “I would not have left that caliber of team, if we did not feel that we have that caliber of talent already here at the U, that we had the capability of challenging the very best teams, not only in the ACC, but in the entire country,” Larranaga said. “The ACC is going through a transition period right now. There are a number of new coaches coming into the league.” |
| “Everyone is going to be dying to get ticket and a seat to watch us play,” Larranaga said. |
| Larranaga mentioned his ties to Florida. His father was raised in Key West. Larranaga owns a home in Sarasota, formerly owned by the sister of ESPN announcer Dick Vitale. |
| Larranaga said he was inspired to make a change when George Mason president Merten announced his intention to step down (effective next year). Larranaga said he always wanted to coach in the ACC, “to take a team to Cameron Indoor Stadium, to take a team to the Dean Dome to challenge the premiere basketball programs in the country.” |
In an afternoon press conference at George Mason, athletic director Tom O’Connor said that the school offered Larranaga a lucrative package that would have made him among the highest paid coaches at a mid-major conference school.
“We were able to put together a total compensation package that in a good year, it would have put him within the top five of mid-major coaches in the country,” O’Connor said.
The key phrase in that sentence was “in a good year.” As O’Connor explained later, with bonuses and incentives, a coach can make much more than his base salary. It’s safe to assume that the package offered Larranaga would not have put him in the top five of mid-major coaches in terms of base salary.
Mid-major coaches believed to make $1 million or more include Brad Stevens (Butler), Shaka Smart (VCU), Mark Few (Gonzaga), and Steve Alford (New Mexico). Lon Kruger (UNLV) was in the mid-major $1 million club before accepting a job at Oklahoma early this month.
“We were very satisfied with what we presented to Jim,” O’Connor said. “We made sure we did the best we could do. It was Jim’s decision whether accepting or not.”
But in the end, basketball at George Mason did not reach the priority that it did at VCU this year when it awarded coach Shaka Smart a contract extension worth $1.2 million per year.
“We couldn’t match that,” O’Connor said. “It would have put a lot of things out of whack.”
O’Connor recognized what basketball did for Mason in 2006 when the Patriots reached the Final Four.
“The marketability of our basketball program was high. What happened in the ’06 season with the Final Four gave us the opportunity to tell the great story of George Mason,” O’Connor said. “But we have to put everything in perspective. Many times people say intercollegiate athletics can never be bigger than the university but is the front door. I don’t think it’s the front door. I think it’s the side door. In the department store of higher education, we’re the toys and games department.”
And with that, the school – whether it wants to admit it or not — lost its most recognizable figure, a basketball coach.
