Jim Larranaga is stepping down as Miami’s head coach in his 14th season

Jim Larranaga has resigned as Miami men’s basketball coach, the school announced Thursday.

Larranaga, who turned 75 in October, took over at Miami in 2011. In his 14 seasons at the helm, he led the Hurricanes to six NCAA Tournaments and four Sweet 16 appearances – including a Final Four run in 2023. Miami went 11-6 in NCAA Tournament games during Larranaga’s tenure, winning two ACC Regular Season Championships.

Veteran assistant Bill Courtney was named interim coach for the remainder of the season.

“After more than fifty years as a college coach, it is simply time,” Larranaga said in a statement. “There is never a good time to step down, but I owe it to our student-athletes, our staff and the University of Miami to take this step now that my heart is simply no longer in the game, and I owe it to Liz , In order for Jay, Jon and my grandchildren to be a larger part of their lives, the university needs a new director of the program who is familiar with and embraces the new world of intercollegiate athletics. I am part of and represents the Hurricane Family World class institution. Most importantly, I have been extremely fortunate to have coached the hundreds of young men who have chosen to wear the UM jersey and have succeeded in their respective journeys, which will always be a stick.

The 2022–23 season was the best in program history, as the Hurricanes won the ACC regular season title and reached the program’s first Final Four – a year after reaching the program’s first Elite Eight. Miami earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but beat No. 4 seed Indiana, No. 1 seed Houston and No. 2 seed Texas en route to the Final Four, where it lost to eventual national champion UConn.

Since that Final Four appearance, however, things have struggled. The Hurricanes were ranked No. 13 in the preseason AP poll last season but missed the postseason entirely after going 15-17. They lost their last 10 games of the campaign.

Miami is just 4-8 this season, with losses in eight of its last nine games, including home losses to Charleston Southern and Mount St. Mary’s. Jalil Bethea, who became the program’s highest-ranked recruit in nearly 40 years when he committed in September 2023, has started just one game.

Before taking over Miami in 2011, Larranaga was the head coach at George Mason for 14 seasons. He led the Patriots to a Final Four appearance in 2006 as a No. 11 seed, beating the likes of Michigan State, North Carolina and UConn. He won four CAA regular season championships and three conference tournament titles at George Mason and made five trips to the NCAA Tournament.

The New York native was also the head coach at Bowling Green and served as an assistant coach at Davidson and Virginia, where he coached three-time National Player of the Year Ralph Sampson.

Larranaga is the sixth longtime ACC coach to resign since April 2021, joining North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Notre Dame’s Mike Brey, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim and Virginia’s Tony Bennett.