Jim Larrañaga would have resigned in Miami and Bill Courtney would take over

Jim Larrañaga is resigning as Miami men’s basketball coach effective immediately, a person with knowledge of the decision said Thursday.

Larrañaga will be replaced by associate head coach Bill Courtney — one of Larrañaga’s best friends for about three decades — for the remainder of the season, the person said.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the school had made no public announcement.

A press conference was planned for later Thursday.

Larrañaga’s decision ends 14 years as Hurricanes coach — and, presumably, a 41-year college career that saw him win 744 games at Miami, American International, George Mason and Bowling Green. He took Miami and George Mason to the Final Four.

The Hurricanes are 4-8 this season and just 5-19 in their last 24 games, a stunning free fall for a program that went to the Final Four just two seasons ago. Injuries and roster turnover have taken a toll, and Larrañaga is one of many coaches who have expressed frustration with the lack of regulation and transparency that has come with the name-brand era. and resemblance in university sports.

Larrañaga is the second high-profile coach to unexpectedly retire this season from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Tony Bennett did the same in Virginia in October, less than three weeks before the Cavaliers played their season opener.

Bennett, when he resigned, said NIL was simply a game changer for coaches and not in a good way.

“College athletics is not in a healthy place. It’s not,” Bennett said in October. “And there has to be change. It’s not going to go back. I think I was equipped to do the job here the old-fashioned way – this is who I am and that’s the way it is.”

Larranaga’s decision to step down makes him the latest big-name veteran coach to leave the ACC in recent seasons, following the departures of some other giants of the sport – North Carolina’s Roy Williams in the spring of 2021, Mike Krzyzewski of Duke a year later and Jim from Syracuse. Boeheim will end a 47-year term in 2023, and Bennett earlier this year.

This is also the second sudden retirement of Miami basketball programs in 2024: Women’s coach Katie Meier surprised many around the Hurricanes when she stepped down last spring after 19 seasons in Coral Gables. Meier remained at the school as a special advisor to athletic director Dan Radakovich and as a teacher.

Associated Press reporting.

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