GREENSBORO, N.C. – Miami’s Jim Larranaga, who guided the Hurricanes to their first Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and ACC Tournament championships, has been named the 2013 ACC Basketball Coach of the Year in a vote of his fellow head coaches.
Larranaga was named on nine of a possible 11 ballots (coaches were not allowed to vote for themselves) in voting conducted prior to the start of last week’s ACC Tournament. Larranaga received nine votes, while Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Roy Williams and Virginia’s Tony Bennett each received one.
After being picked for a fifth-place finish in preseason, Miami won its first 13 conference games and finished atop the league with a 15-3 ACC mark. Larranaga’s team then swept three games in the ACC Tournament behind the play of MVP Shane Larkin to claim it first ACC basketball title.
The Hurricanes will enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 regional seed and with an overall record of 27-6 - the most wins in program history. Miami was ranked as high as No. 2 nationally, defeated No. 1 Duke and hosted five capacity crowds at the BankUnited Center this season, all firsts for the program.
Larranaga, 63, is in his second season as Miami's head coach. Prior to joining the Hurricanes, Larranaga spent 14 seasons at George Mason University, where he led the Patriots to the 2006 Final Four. He also spent 11 seasons at Bowling Green and two seasons at American International. In 29 seasons as a head coach, the 1971 Providence College graduate has a career record of 514-353.
Larranaga, who also worked as an assistant at Virginia under former head coach Terry Holland, has been named one of 20 finalists for the 2013 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year award.
2013 ACC Coach of the Year
(With votes received)
Jim Larranaga, Miami 9
Tony Bennett, Virginia 1
Mike Krzyzewski, Duke 1
Roy Williams, North Carolina 1
