CORAL GABLES, Fla. – With the abrupt news of Jim Larranaga announcing he is stepping down immediately as the head coach of the Miami Hurricanes, the most common question that followed was, “Why?”
(Larranaga detailed his reasons during Thursday’s 30-minute press conference which can be watched here or read here).
After the dust settled, the next question has commonly been, “Who will be the Hurricanes’ next coach?”
For now, it will be Bill Courtney, a longtime friend and assistant coach under Larranaga who was the head coach at Cornell for six seasons (2010-16), going 60-116. Courtney has spearheaded the Hurricanes’ recruiting efforts, notably in the transfer portal, and has been on the staff since 2019. He will immediately take over with the interim title and look to lead a turnaround from the Hurricanes’ 4-8 start, the worst at Miami since 1992 and the worst record among power five conference teams.
“We’re excited about Bill Courtney taking the reins for the rest of the season,” director of athletics Dan Radakovich said. “Bill is a great coach, a tremendous person and I’m confident that he will lead us in the right direction as we continue in our ACC season journey. I thank him for his willingness to step up.”
Larranaga is staying in Coral Gables and willing to help Courtney, 54, and the program moving forward.
“My most important thing now is to support Bill Courtney and the coaches and the team to be there for them in any capacity,” Larranaga said. “Bill and I have been best friends for 28 years. He was with me at Bowling Green. He was with me at George Mason and then I was absolutely thrilled when he decided he’d come and help me with our program. He recruited all the players at George Mason that took us to the Final Four, every one of them as a result of his efforts and he was the guy that brought in Jordan Miller, Charlie Moore, Nijel Pack and Norchad Omier. He was the point person for all those guys and I wouldn’t be, I wouldn’t have been able to stay coaching if I had not met him 28 years ago because he’s been, and he’ll do a great job. He’s got a very difficult job at him because the ACC is a very difficult league.”
One of the benefits of Larranaga’s announcement during the season is that Radakovich will have plenty of time to do a thorough coaching search and there should be plenty of options as the program has been elevated in status over Larranaga’s 14-year tenure that includes 274 victories, six NCAA Tournament appearances, two ACC titles, a Final Four appearance in 2023 and eight NBA Draft picks.
“As we look to move forward, it’s a difficult atmosphere out there,” Radakovich said. “The lack of what Jim was just talking about, no collective bargaining, no limited antitrust exemption, all the things that you talk about and hear about in intercollegiate athletics has led to the symptoms that Jim just talked about. So that has to be the longer-term view of what we need to have happen. Will that occur before we need to move forward and conduct a national search? I highly doubt it. So we’re going to be looking at the attributes that the University of Miami can provide to a potential coach, looking at, obviously, playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which is an incredible basketball league, and making sure we put our best foot forward to get someone that can come in, be a part of the community, part of the university, but at the same time, feel like they have the ability to navigate this world and the changing world that we’re in.”
Depending on how the rest of the season goes, Courtney could receive the full-time job moving forward. Current assistant Kotie Kimble is a young coach on the rise with recruiting ties in the Carolinas who could be ready for a head coaching job although it would be a jump for his first gig in the ACC.
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