UM coach Jim Larranaga on how long he plans to coach, his NIL philosophy, love of March

Jim Larranaga has been coaching college basketball over five decades, so when he shows up at the NCAA Tournament, he draws crowds in hallways, courtside and in news conferences.

The 73-year-old University of Miami coach seems to have crossed paths with just about everyone in the game from other coaches to former players to commentators to referees to fans. Every time he has walked through the bowels of MVP Arena this week, he has been stopped.

As he prepared his fifth-seeded Hurricanes to play No. 4 Indiana late Sunday night in the Round of 32, he held court in the interview room, and shared his views on everything from how long he plans to keep coaching to how he has adapted to the era of Name, Image and Likeness deals, to how playing in the NCAA Tournament never gets old.

A reporter mentioned to Larranaga that 70-year-old Iona coach Rick Pitino, another legend whose team was playing here this week, said he could see himself coaching another 10 years. With the recent retirements of Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim, Larranaga’s longevity has been a topic of discussion.

In March 2022, Larranaga signed a two-year contract extension through 2025-26. He would be 76 at the end of that deal. Asked how long he plans to coach, Larranaga smiled and replied:

“I’m going to coach as long as the University of Miami would like me to be their head coach. I have a contract now. I intend to meet my responsibilities and try to be the best leader and ambassador of the University of Miami, our basketball program, our athletic department and the university as a whole.

“Whether that’s three, four years, 10 years, I don’t know. I’m older than Rick by a few years — not that much, but a few. So, I don’t forecast or predict the future. I’m just enjoying my time right now. I live in the present.”

Larranaga has adapted to the modern era of recruiting, social media and NIL. Several of his players have sponsorship deals, and he is fine with it.

“Here’s what I did, and this is how I handled it,” he explained. “First of all, my coaching staff and I have nothing to do with NIL. I use this analogy. I asked our players if they’ve ever seen Steph Curry in a Subway commercial, and everybody has. I said, ‘OK, that’s NIL.’

“But Subway doesn’t tell Steve Kerr how to run his Golden State Warriors team, and no one’s going to tell me how to run my basketball program. When you’re coming into the gym, you’re going to play the Miami way. When you work with someone else that’s willing to sponsor you, great. That’s like college basketball coaches who have shoe contracts. Hey, you can make some additional money. That’s what NIL was made to do, and that’s what it’s doing.”

Larranaga has made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, six in his 12 years at UM. He reached the Final Four with George Mason and with UM made two runs to the Sweet 16, one to the Elite 8 and so far reached the Round of 32 this March.

He has appreciated every trip the same, he said.

“I think my appreciation really began as a mid-major coach, realizing how difficult it is to get to the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “At Bowling Green, we couldn’t do it. At George Mason, no one really gave us a chance. They told me you’re never going to win the league. You’re like the worst team. I was like that’s not right.

“But when we got there for the first time, we had to win the conference tournament. Then our goal was, ‘Hey, if we don’t win the tournament, can we get an at large bid?’ And we were the first CAA team to do that in 2006, and that got us to the Final Four. Then we got back in 2008, 2011, and each time it just became more significant because of how difficult it really is for a mid-major team in a one-bid league to do that.”

Making the tournament as the Hurricanes coach has been equally rewarding.

“Then when we moved to Miami and you’re facing the Blue Bloods, you’ve got Duke and Carolina and Syracuse and Louisville and Notre Dame, you’re saying to yourself, shoot, this is even more difficult because you’ve got so many people in front of you and only so many teams can go.

“So, every time we’ve gotten there in 2013 and beyond has been very special. I know it’s very special for each member of the team because they might only go through it one time. So, you want to make that trip very memorable.”