Jim Larranaga to Step Down

[IDRAFT]

I hear you. One thing that no one mentions. In the past our season would start on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Now we already have several games in the bank prior to TG. I use to eat up coverage of the Great Alaska shootout and the Maui Classic. Get a little barometer on the National scene. We also have already played TWO conference games prior to January. January was when the Conference started.

Now? It’s just saturation and noise. If St. John’s isn’t on it just feels like one in another million games. Just feels off putting. But that’s just me.

I think another problem is the NCAA has instituted a system that devalues the majority (conference) part of the season. They let a handful of OOC games in November and early December dictate what conferences are strong or not and therefore set much of the postseason bids based on a small sample size of early games. It makes people check out.

As a MLB fan, if they worked like the NCAA a team would be dead in April if they lost three in a row to the White Sox last year.

 

[IDRAFT]

Jim Larranaga is a great coach. Jim Larranaga is likely going to the Hall-of-Fame. Jim Larranaga came off as disingenuous and quit on his team, program and fans. Sure he's 75 and rich so what does he owe anyone. But that's just not how sports work. That's not how leaders of men act, this is big business and players came to Miami to play for him because of how successful he's been.

Miami was the first school that was front and center flaunting their NIL strength with Diaz and Life Wallet with that 800k over two year deal and Mercedez cars etc. No one is going to feel bad for them. But Larranaga citing he's exhausted when the team is conveniently 4-8 is comedy. Why wasn't he tired in October? According to Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish as of a few weeks ago when they actually brought up the struggles of Miami this season, they said that Jim was adamant he was no where near retirement this summer and was a basketball lifer with no other hobbies.

The fact is the narrative around Jim doing this is him getting a pass because of his age, yet if a player did this they'd be dragged through the mud. Such is life I know, double standards for everything and everyone given status and where you are in life. But this is wrong. Will it change Miami's season with an interim coach or even if Jim stayed? Probably not. Was it the right thing to do? In my opinion hard to view it as anything other than quitting on your guys.

I agree if he jumped but I suspect he was shoved and the announcement of a retirement was a PR move. In my career about 90 percent of the “retirements” I witnessed were not the retirees idea. Including my own! This smells the same to me.

Blaming NIL was nonsense though, just say it’s time and find the door.

 

[Marillac2]

Laranagga quit, pure and simple. He was going to rack up losses in a down season and jumped ship. Losing is what is exhausting.

He should be the last coach to complain about NIL, as he won with mercenaries in Miami.

Pitino won’t even look twice at that job. Miami has no fan support and their one major basketball donor is is trouble. Miami fans make us look like Creighton.

Let’s not fool ourselves, though. The only reason Pitino wouldn’t look for another job is because of his age and comfort being in New York. If he was 20 years younger, he’d be gone at season’s end.

 

[NCJohnnie]

Laranagga quit, pure and simple. He was going to rack up losses in a down season and jumped ship. Losing is what is exhausting.

He should be the last coach to complain about NIL, as he won with mercenaries in Miami.

Pitino won’t even look twice at that job. Miami has no fan support and their one major basketball donor is is trouble. Miami fans make us look like Creighton.

Let’s not fool ourselves, though. The only reason Pitino wouldn’t look for another job is because of his age and comfort being in New York. If he was 20 years younger, he’d be gone at season’s end.

Luckily he’s not lol.

 

[weathermannyc]

Laranagga quit, pure and simple. He was going to rack up losses in a down season and jumped ship. Losing is what is exhausting.

He should be the last coach to complain about NIL, as he won with mercenaries in Miami.

Pitino won’t even look twice at that job. Miami has no fan support and their one major basketball donor is is trouble. Miami fans make us look like Creighton.

Let’s not fool ourselves, though. The only reason Pitino wouldn’t look for another job is because of his age and comfort being in New York. If he was 20 years younger, he’d be gone at season’s end.

If he was even 10 years younger then he never would have come here.

 

[BrookJersey Redmen]

If he was even 10 years younger then he never would have come here.

Exactly, let's face it, we were the beneficiary of his being exiled and doing his purgatory in Greece then New Rochelle.

 

[kranmars]

Laranagga quit, pure and simple. He was going to rack up losses in a down season and jumped ship. Losing is what is exhausting.

He should be the last coach to complain about NIL, as he won with mercenaries in Miami.

Pitino won’t even look twice at that job. Miami has no fan support and their one major basketball donor is is trouble. Miami fans make us look like Creighton.

Let’s not fool ourselves, though. The only reason Pitino wouldn’t look for another job is because of his age and comfort being in New York. If he was 20 years younger, he’d be gone at season’s end.

While I know what you mean, I am going to make the chicken or the egg theory just for argument’s sake.

If SJU had made the commitment to hire Pitino 20-25 years earlier, the program would not have had what we have experienced nearly a generation’s worth of misery. The program would have been on much better footing and not a complete afterthought in college basketball.

If Pitino had come 20-25 years earlier, he would not have dealt with NIL and all problems it carries.

If Pitino had come 20-25 years earlier, SJU would not have been searching 25 years for an NCAA tournament win. There would be no need to reintroduce it to the college basketball world because the college basketball would already know who it was.

If Pitino had come 20-25 years earlier, the university would have made the bold investment in its signature sports program which would have garnered the university publicity.

If Pitino had come 20-25 years earlier, and he decided to leave for another job, the program would have a pool of quality candidates to choose from.

And yes, we can always think that Pitino 20-25 years earlier may have left SJU in a Louisville situation. But I do not think so.

Reporters and the NCAA (they never had love for SJU and came after them for a lot less than the blue bloods) would be hovering and searching for any hint of illegality around the lone successful NYC major college basketball program.

 

[Marillac2]

If SJU had made the commitment to hire Pitino 20-25 years earlier, the program would not have had what we have experienced nearly a generation’s worth of misery. The program would have been on much better footing and not a complete afterthought in college basketball.

This is 100% correct. I argued this at the time. Coaches like Pitino/Cal/Shaka, etc. do 10 jobs. Pay them whatever it takes and the program and the school will be better off.

 

[bamafan]

While I know what you mean, I am going to make the chicken or the egg theory just for argument’s sake.

If SJU had made the commitment to hire Pitino 20-25 years earlier, the program would not have had what we have experienced nearly a generation’s worth of misery. The program would have been on much better footing and not a complete afterthought in college basketball.

If Pitino had come 20-25 years earlier, he would not have dealt with NIL and all problems it carries.

If Pitino had come 20-25 years earlier, SJU would not have been searching 25 years for an NCAA tournament win. There would be no need to reintroduce it to the college basketball world because the college basketball would already know who it was.

If Pitino had come 20-25 years earlier, the university would have made the bold investment in its signature sports program which would have garnered the university publicity.

If Pitino had come 20-25 years earlier, and he decided to leave for another job, the program would have a pool of quality candidates to choose from.

And yes, we can always think that Pitino 20-25 years earlier may have left SJU in a Louisville situation. But I do not think so.

Reporters and the NCAA (they never had love for SJU and came after them for a lot less than the blue bloods) would be hovering and searching for any hint of illegality around the lone successful NYC major college basketball program.

Thanks for the positive post Because the other posts on the subject are basically calling us a shit program.

 

[otis]

I was always a big fan of the soccer teams, we were good and competitive. Mens soccer rosters will triple and the women will double. To what end? It's as if they randomly chose numbers to increase all the sports rosters. Lacrosse 12 to 48. Seriously?

Talk about random ….. D1 women’s teams in my beloved sport of rowing increased from 20 scholarships to 68.

Most women’s college rowing programs don’t have 68 women on their team.

 

[L J S A]

Talk about random ….. D1 women’s teams in my beloved sport of rowing increased from 20 scholarships to 68.

Most women’s college rowing programs don’t have 68 women on their team.

I'm not even sure most schools have the money to fund a team that size without a wealthy benefactor. Stanford, which generally has the funding and wealthy benefactors, has 45 on the team. Two women on the men's team too.

 

[L J S A]

We chose our old guy very wisely. He still has energy, he loves to schmooze, and he knows more rich guys than Larranaga, Bennett, et al. combined.

 

[tom in salem]

We haven't reached these heights yet.

 

[Knight]

We haven't reached these heights yet.

Has his social security papers ready to go.

 

[paultzman]

Has his social security papers ready to go.

Probably 10 credits short of a degree

 

[monte]

Has his social security papers ready to go.

We used to compare older college players to Theo John. Soon we'll be comparing them to Elton John.