UM INSIDER- Frankie Fernandez
When the University of Miami is brought up in conversation, the 1st thing that
surfaces is the thought of a successful Football team and its 5 National
Championships. You can also make a mention of The Miami Orange Bowl, arguably one of
the greatest buildings in the history of collegiate sports. Or maybe the 4 National
Championships that the Baseball team has brought to Coral Gables. But very rarely
is the Basketball team in the discussion.
The Basketball program at The U has always flown under the radar. Whether it
was Leonard Hamilton, Perry Clark or Frank Haith leading the Canes, expectations
have never been at a high level. But with Jim Larranaga as the new Head Coach there
seams to be a bit of a different tone in Coral Gables. At least that's how it
feels.
From the moment that Larranaga was introduced as the 12th Miami Hurricanes
Basketball Head Coach in April 2011, there has been a buzz surrounding The U. For
once, Miami has a Head Coach that has proven that he can win. In 2006, Larranaga
took a Cinderella George Mason squad that entered the NCAA Tournament as an 11th
seed and defeated the 6th seeded Michigan State Spartans, who had played in the
Final Four the previous year. George Mason advanced all the way to The Final Four
where they fell short in the National Semi Final and lost to the team that would go
on to win the 2006 National Championship, the Florida Gators.
The Season At Hand
Miami Started this season with a new Attitude and Personality. Big goals were
set from Day 1. “The Atlantic Coast
Conference is the best basketball conference in the country, and my goal is to win
an ACC championship and a national championship.” Larranaga quotes. "We see Miami as
a Sleeping Giant in the basketball world". And Miami followed the steps of there
leader with the hype that this is a new team with a new identity. Miami started the
season 4-0 before losing their 1st game at Ole Miss in Overtime 64-61.
After going through the Non Conference part of their Schedule Miami's record was
9-4. Their ACC Schedule began on Saturday Night (January 7,2012). Even though Miami
looked like they were collectively on the same page riding a 4 game win streak into
the Conference opener, it was a shaky start as Miami fell to Virginia 52-51. Miami
shot 35% from the floor and Kenny Kadji led Miami with 14 points.
Larranaga was down to only 6 scholarship players for most of November and December
due to a string of injuries. Miami has two key players back from injury. The 2011
All - ACC honorable mention center Reggie Johnson and senior Guard DeQuan Jones.
Johnson and Jones have ignited the teams confidence with a record of 4-1 since their
return. This season thus far Junior Durand Scott leads Miami in scoring averaging
13.9 PPG and leads the team with 9 assists.
The Canes are currently 9-5(0-1) and need to continue to play good up tempo
basketball and with the Defense that has been demonstrated early on.Miami has
allowed 69.0 PPG and have held opponents to shoot 41% from the floor.
It doesnt get any easier down the road for the Hurricanes as they find themselves in
arguably the toughest Conference in College Basketball. Tuesday night @ 9:00 PM ET,
the Canes find themselves playing the #3 team in the nation. The North Carolina
Tarheels! A team that Miami has played competitive through the years but just hasn't
had much success against. All time UNC leads the series 2-16 with the Canes last
beating UNC 81-70 on Jan. 14, 2006 in Chapel Hill. The
first victory was a 64-61 overtime win on Jan. 4, 2003 in Coral Gables.
