Canes Reportedly Looking at Larranaga

Gary Parrish of CBS Sports reported that the University of Miami, under new leadership of Shawn Eichorst, is in discussions with Jim Larranaga, the head coach of George Mason’s basketball team.

Larranaga in 2006

He has been at the helm of George Mason for fourteen seasons, making the final four in 2006 and advancing to the second round in March’s NCAA Tournament.

Larranaga does not exactly bring youth to the program–he is 61–but he has done more in the postseason at George Mason than anyone has ever been able to do at Miami.

Larranaga would likely come with a cheap price tag.  He makes $525,000 a year at George Mason, and could expect a higher starting salary at Miami.

Canes hold 2011 Spring Game

By DAVID FURONES 

The University of Miami football players received their final opportunity to compete and impress in the 2011 Spring Game on a cloudy, yet humid, Saturday afternoon in Fort Lauderdale’s Lockhart Stadium. 

The Green team defeated the Orange team 30-17 in the intra-squad scrimmage, but the final score was not what the Miami faithful took away from the game. 

For fans, it was a chance to grasp a lasting impression they will carry into the fall after an offseason that completely remodeled the coaching staff following the forgettable 2010 season. 

Several position battles, highlighted by the duel for the starting quarterback position between senior Jacory Harris and sophomore Stephen Morris, were proven to be highly contested Saturday. 

“I’m just going to keep working,” Harris says, “It’s like anything else in life. You have to compete for everything.” 

“It makes you go hard, makes you work hard in the weight room,” says Morris, “competition only brings good.” 

Offensively, Miami was most effective in the running game, particularly Lamar Miller. Miller utilized his 10 carries to total 166 yards and three touchdowns. In the passing game, Jedd Fisch drew up plenty of check down passes to get his quarterbacks comfortable and mixed in the occasional deep ball.

 The two quarterbacks, who were down wide receivers LaRon Byrd, Aldarius Johnson and Travis Benjamin, compiled decent completion percentages, but reminiscent of last season, did turn the ball over. 

Harris went 18 of 30 for 149 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions while Morris completed 14 of his 22 passes, threw a touchdown pass to Kendal Thompkins and also tossed two picks. 

“I thought the quarterbacks struggled,” says first year graduate student and Hurricane fan Brad Kenin. “They didn’t display good pocket presence.” 

Head coach Al Golden attributed the turnovers of the quarterbacks, who defenders were not allowed to make contact with, to the solid play of the defense. He did not name a starter for the fall.

 “That’s too far in advance. I just want to see them compete,” says Golden. “We’ll let them compete for the next 140 days and see who’s going to start.” 

“I think the coaching staff’s going to make a decision best for the team,” says former Cane quarterback Ken Dorsey, “and you can’t really lose with any of these guys.” 

The team’s defensive ends were strong while Sean Spence and Ray Ray Armstrong highlighted the day’s action behind them. Spence had an interception return for a touchdown that resulted in a bench clearing celebration at the field goal post that he deemed similar to that in the Florida-Georgia game in 2007. 

Reggie Wayne chats it up with fans after Saturdays Spring Game while Tapout gets free product placement.

 

Questions still remain on what the Canes will do at cornerback after losing seniors Demarcus Van Dyke and Ryan Hill and junior Brandon Harris, who decided to forego his senior year to enter the NFL draft. 

“You can’t replace those guys,” says Spence, “but I think guys are doing a great job of stepping up, taking ownership and playing their role.” 

Over a hundred football alumni filed onto the sidelines to watch their alma mater’s scrimmage. 

“It’s a special group,” says Golden, “that’s a family.” 

Thirty-three members of the 2001 Hurricanes, who brought Miami its fifth national championship in football, were honored at halftime. 

“It kind of makes me feel old,” says former Cane great and all-pro Minnesota Vikings left tackle Bryant McKinnie. 

The next game Cane fans can look forward to will kick-off the regular season in a Labor Day showdown in Maryland that will be aired on ESPN.

“We just have to beat up on each other during the offseason and make each other better,” says Lamar Miller.

Reggie Johnson to Declare for the Draft

From Hurricanesports:

“Sophomore center Reggie Johnson has elected to submit his name for the upcoming NBA Draft, but will not hire an agent to retain the option of returning to the Hurricanes for the 2011-12 season. “The chance to play in the NBA is something that has been in my mind for a long time – since I was really young,” said Johnson. “Now the chance has presented itself so I can see where I stand. If it doesn’t feel right, I know I still have the opportunity to return to play college basketball.””

Does the 6’10, 300 lb. center, who averaged 11.9 points and 9.6 rebounds in 26 minutes have what it takes to make it in the NBA or get drafted?

The last two Canes to get drafted, Dwayne Collins and Jack McClinton, are currently playing in Europe, after failing to make the squads that picked them up in the draft (the Suns and Spurs, respectively).

Is this a bad sign for the Hurricanes basketball program, as it may signal a lack of faith that Johnson has in whoever plans on taking over the team as the head coach going into next season?

ZING!

Al Golden took a shot at Gainesville this week.  When asked about the lack of fans at games last year and spring games this year compared to other schools, Golden responded-“I know this– we have a better chance of filling our stadium than Gainesville has of putting an international city right outside its city limits.”

Haith to Missouri an Obvious Decision

The night before the biggest college basketball game of the season, one coach made the biggest decision of his career.  The news of Frank Haith leaving the University of Miami was almost as painful to hear as the Butler-Connecticut game was to watch.  The immediate response by the media and students was a familiar feeling of abandonment.  Only a month ago was the campus coping with Kirby Hocutt vacating his athletics director position for the same job at Texas Tech.  The University now has two vacancies in two of its most crucial positions, and the fault has more to do with Miami than it does with the individuals leaving.

Hocutt left Miami in large part due to cultural differences discerned between Coral Gables and Lubbock.  He felt more comfort raising his family in West Texas than South Florida, and he if we are going to pride ourselves as a country where the American Dream still exists, than we have a duty to, disagree as we may, respect and admire his decision.

If Haith’s American Dream leads him back to the heartland, then more power to him.  He will have the pride of calling Mizzou Arena home, where Tigers fans, including 24,901 undergraduate students, march on weekday nights to root on their team.  When Missouri played North Florida in a meaningless game on November 20^th this past season, over 7,000 people were in attendance.  When North Carolina visited Miami in a meaningful game on January 26^th, barely 6,000 turned up at the BankUnited Center.  Haith can expect sellouts of 15,061 to show up to conference games.  He will no longer have to beg students on his twitter feed or utilize free Papa John’s pizza handouts at the home venue to entice students to show up.

Why should Haith reject the opportunity to play host in a venue where the home team won 17 games in a row last year?  What does he owe us?  In his seven years of coaching at the University of Miami, he has led the basketball team to the postseason five times.  In 2008, Haith led the Hurricanes to the second round of the NCAA tournament.  A year later, his job was being questioned again, and barely 4,000 people showed up for conference games.  If anything, the University community owed more to Coach Haith.

It is easy to feel bad for the players right now.  They have been abandoned by their leader.  Malcolm Grant and Rion Brown both said the exact same thing about Frank Haith: “He’s the reason I came here.”  But the players are not going anywhere.  The team remains intact even with its coaching changes.  The fallout will be minimal in this regard.  If Miami finished last season 6-10 in conference play, then maybe with another coach it can flip that record.  Either way, the basketball team at Miami will get a spurt of excitement with a new coach, and Haith will be back in his comfort zone.

Haith came into the University of Miami after a stint as the assistant coach of the University of Texas.  He was an assistant coach at Texas A&M from 1992 to 1995, and again for the 1996-1997 school year.  He is no stranger to the Big 12, and can thrive in the loaded conference.  Haith will have strong returning players, including two who are declared for the 2011 NBA draft but, because they did not hire agents, may return to Missouri next year in the likely case that they go undrafted.  The talent pool that Missouri is exposed to is also greater than that of Miami.

The University of Miami digs itself in a hole.  Does any coach want to deal with half-full arenas, unfounded scrutiny, and competition with a football team’s popularity?  Hardly.  The search for an athletics director who wants to hurdle these and innumerable other obstacles may prove to be a difficulty as well, and this does not speak well for the administration or the university.

At the introductory press conference yesterday at Missouri, Haith said, “I had spent a year at Miami and I had trouble getting into my office because they didn’t recognize me.”  How can we fault Haith for entering a better situation in every way.  His pay will be higher, his expectations and aspirations will grow, and most importantly, “I know I’m in a place where they care.”

The student fan group “Haith’s Faithful” may consider changing their t-shirts to “Haith is Unfaithful” but first they would have to ask themselves what loyalty was owed to them, and in turn what they, their peers, and their community left on the table.

Miami Basketball Vacancy

Now that Frank Haith has left the team, the athletic director-less Hurricanes will have to search for a new head coach.

Yes, Shaka Smart is the hot coach right now, but Seth Davis of CBS got it right when he tweeted, “Miami fans dreaming of Shaka Smart can forget it. VCU is better job than Miami. Richmond fans care. Miami fans barely turn out for the Heat.”

VCU is Smart’s home until a job with more prestige than the Miami one arises.

The leading candidate is believed to be Frank Martin, the head coach of the Kansas State Wildcats.  Martin grew up in Miami and his parents are Cuban immigrants.  The 45 year-old coach would obviously fit in with the culture in Miami (no offense, Manhattan, Kansas) and has the potential to rejuvenate a lackluster program.  He comes from a school that, too, cares much more about its football team than its basketball team.

I’d like to see Shalala interview Bruce Pearl, as I think he has the right personality for the team and could get students excited about the team, but as far as perfect fits go–it might not get any better than Frank Martin, and that’s a good thing.

Hurricanes Baseball Drop Two to Tech

After winning nine games in a row–including six games of ACC conference play–the 29th ranked Hurricanes have lost their first two games against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Saturday’s game went into extra innings with both teams tied 3-3.  Daniel Miranda, the typically consistent and reliable closer for Miami, gave up four hits and three runs in the top of the tenth as Tech grabbed a 6-3 lead in Coral Gables.  Putting in Sam Abrams to stop the bleeding did not help, and after giving up a 3-run home run, Georgia Tech led 9-3.  All of Georgia Tech’s scoring in the tenth inning occurred with two outs.  When Coach Jim Morris pulled Abrams, Georgia Tech was up 10-3.  Zach Robinson came in and after hitting a batter gave up a double that scored two runs.  The inning mercifully came to an end after a pop-out, but at 12-3, the game was well over.

The Hurricanes had a man on third with one out in the ninth, but could not score the game-winning run.

A bright spot for the Hurricanes is that Dale Carey got his first two rbi’s of the season on Saturday.  The slumping freshman, and one of the prized recruits of this past off-season, is looking to turn his game around for the better.  He went into this series hitting .050.

The Jackets look for the sweep tomorrow afternoon at 1.  The game can be watched on CSS or listened to at wvum.org.

Sebastian The Ibis Makes Top 10

In case you missed this shot, Sebastian the Ibis hit this half court shot during monday’s game against Missouri State.  Little does the audience know that Sebastian does this every game, and probably takes within 15 or more behind the back half court shots.  This was the first time I ever saw Sebastian make one.  But hey, when do you see a mascot make the Top 10, usually its the Not Top 10.

Bad quality, but click here to watch video…

Ramon Buchanan Arrested

Miami Hurricanes linebacker Ramon Buchanan has been arrested and may face felony charges after allegedly attempting to headbutt a police officer and spitting in the officer’s hand, and allegedly saying, “I’m a UM football player and I don’t give a fuck what you do. I’ll get out of it.”  All of this information has been taken from the police incident report.

He has been suspended by the team indefinitely after being charged with resisting arrest with violence and battery after being apprehended by police at Fat Tuesday’s in the Grove.  The charge is a felony.

In a statement, Coach Al Golden said, “This is out of character for a young man who has been a positive influence in our program. He is contrite and apologetic for the situation and is currently taking the appropriate actions towards resolution.”

Campus Quick Hits

Women’s Basketball

With the first day of the Women’s NCAA Tournament in the books, Riquna Williams, Shenise Johnson, Morgan Stroman and the rest of the Canes will tip-off at 12:15 p.m. tomorrow. The Hurricanes, ranked No. 3 in the Dayton regional will face off against the 14th-seeded Gardner-Webb in Charlottesville, VA. The game can be seen on ESPN2, and the winner of Oklahoma and James Madison awaits in the second round.

Baseball

The Hurricanes won their fifth straight Saturday with a 4-3 win at Wake Forest Ballpark in Winston-Salem, NC. After a Nathan Melendres double brought home Zeke DeVoss, Harold Martinez singled to drive in the go-ahead and eventual winning run. Daniel Miranda closed out the game in the bottom of the ninth to clinch the victory. Miami remains undefeated in ACC play at 5-0. The Canes go for the sweep Sunday at 1 p.m. with sophomore Eric Whaley on the mound.

Track and Field

The Hurricane Invitational is now entirely in the books. The two-day event was wrapped up Saturday evening, and 19 Hurricanes finished in the top five of their respective events. Three Canes finished first in their events. Nicole Cummings placed first in the women’s heptathlon with Britney Clarke finishing right behind her. Lindsi Arrington won the women’s 1500 meter run. Then Thandi Stewart recorded the invitational’s top time in the women’s 400 meter hurdles.

Men’s Basketball

After defeating Florida Atlantic 85-62 in the first round of the NIT Wednesday, the Canes are ready to battle Missouri State on Monday night at 7 p.m. at the BankUnited Center. The Canes are ranked No. 2 in Region 1 and face the No. 3 Bears.

Swimming and Diving

The women’s swimming and diving team has been participating in the Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships all weekend in Austin, TX. They placed 16th on Thursday and 20th on Friday.

Men’s Tennis

The University of Miami men’s tennis team will face the Clemson Tigers tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.