Miami unfurls a banner to honor retired coach Jim Larrañaga, who led the ‘Canes to a Final Four

By Canadian Press on January 20, 2026.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Jim Larrañaga’s name now hangs from the rafters at the University of Miami.

The Hurricanes paid tribute to the retired coach on Tuesday night before their Atlantic Coast Conference game against Florida State, unveiling a banner in celebration of Larrañaga during a pregame ceremony.

The banner displayed his name and title, along with the years he was Miami — 2011 through 2024. Florida State won the game, 65-63.

Larrañaga unexpectedly retired in December 2024 to end a 14-year run as coach of the Hurricanes and a 41-year college head coaching career that saw him win 744 games at Miami, American International, George Mason and Bowling Green. He took Miami to the Final Four in 2023 and took George Mason to the Final Four in 2006.

He was replaced at the time by longtime assistant Bill Courtney, who completed the 2024-25 season. Courtney went on to become an assistant at Temple — coached by another former Miami assistant, Adam Fisher — and died unexpectedly last week.

Monday’s ceremony also included a moment of silence for Courtney, who was one of Larrañaga’s closest friends.

Larrañaga won 274 games at Miami and guided the school to six NCAA tournament appearances, getting to the Sweet 16 four times, the Elite Eight twice, the Final Four once and winning two Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season titles.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

The Associated Press