Some highlights:
Each day, Coach L takes a 10 minute walk across campus to get an Angel Food smoothie. Today, he wasn't sure he'd have time given the
two-hour staff meeting, the nine media interviews, the private talks with various players and the general preparation for Wednesday’s trip to Kansas City for Friday’s NCAA Tournament game against top seed Houston.
Larrañaga already has talked on a radio show with NBA legend Jerry West, for who an award is named that Miami’s Isaiah Wong is a finalist.
“We have a drill we call, ‘The Jerry West,’ " Larrañaga says. “One dribble and a jump shot.”
“If you can get your shot off quickly in any space, that’s a key to success,” West said
When he arrived at Miami in 2011, he delivered pizzas to dorm rooms and talked at fraternities to beg students to attend games for a lost program. Now this walk is evidence of a changed world of sellout games, ACC conference titles, a second consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 and students pulling out phones to take pictures with the 73-year-old coach.
Larranaga said at halftime of the Indiana win he huddled with assistants and it was decided Omier and Jordan Miller would switch defensive assignments.
“When I told the team, they said, ‘Yeah, we decided that’s what we should do, too,’ " Larrañaga said. “I said, ‘Well, we’re on the same page.’ "
This defensive switch against Indiana was key to Miami taking charge in the second half.
“Now we go against a Houston team that was ranked No. 1 for a good stretch this season,” he says. “They’re fourth in the country in offensive rebounding, fourth in defense. We know what they can do.”