Jim Larrañaga has joined an elite club in the NCAA…
The University of Miami’s victory over Pittsburgh over the weekend has given the 67-year-old Cuban American head coach of the Miami men’s basketball program 600 career wins.
Miami’s Davon Reed ended the game with 18 points, Bruce Brown added 17, and the Hurricanes held the Panthers without a field goal for almost 10 minutes in a 72-46 blowout.
Miami (12-4, 2-2 ACC) ended a two-game losing streak by outrebounding Pitt 37-23 and holding the Panthers (12-6, 1-4) to just 34 percent shooting (18-of-53).
The Hurricanes scored 14 straight during a run that spanned the end of the first half and the beginning of the second to get all the breathing room they would need, then continued to pour it on to hand the Panthers their worst loss in the 15-year history of the Petersen Events Center.
Miami players celebrated the victory with Larrañaga in the locker room after the game.
Larrañaga’s 600 wins place him at 47th in all-time NCAA victories and 14th among active coaches. Of those 14, five are in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, including four from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
In his career, Larrañaga has won 27 games at American International, 170 at Bowling Green University, 273 at George Mason University and 130 at Miami. He is one of 15 coaches all-time with 100 or more wins at three D-I schools, four of whom are actively coaching. He is also 11th among active coaches in total games coached (995) and ninth in most seasons coached (33).
Larrañaga has posted 10 20-win seasons over his career, topped by the 29-7 mark at Miami in 2012-13, when the Canes won the ACC regular season Championship, ACC Tournament championship and played in the NCAA Sweet 16.
Active DI coaches by victories (after games on Jan. 12):
- Mike Krzyzewski, Duke 1,057
- Jim Boeheim, Syracuse 894
- Bob Huggins, West Virginia 805
- Roy Williams, North Carolina 798
- Rick Pitino, Louisville 759
- Rick Byrd, Belmont 741
- Cliff Ellis, Coastal Caro. 721
- Jerry Slocum, Youngstown St. 718
- Larry Hunter, Western Caro. 685
- John Beilein, Michigan 676
- John Calipari, Kentucky 634
- Rick Barnes, Tennessee 627
- Bill Self, Kansas 607
- Jim Larranaga, Miami (FL) 600