Why did Larranaga leave bg for George Mason? Mac was better than the colonial at the time. Looking at his season records I'm sure people now would want him gone before his final season. Simple question but I never knew the answer to it
Happy he is in the elite 8 right now regardless
Jim Larranaga
Re: Jim Larranaga
More money and lack of progress toward a new arena at BG.
Re: Jim Larranaga
Really george Mason offered more money than us? Sigh...
Re: Jim Larranaga
George Mason paid much better than BG in the 90's. They don't have to fund a football program.
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Diemilkweed
- Peregrine
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Re: Jim Larranaga
Larranaga always complained about Anderson Arena and the budget in general. He said if you want the best athletes, you need a better gym than that. If you want bigger crowds, you need a better gym than that.
We never made anything CLOSE to a move to address any of that. So he bailed.
His kid graduated, and he left.
Frankly, it was time to go. He whined when losing on the road. Never had a solution. Always had blame. Same thing happened in the tourney every year, no matter how good we were.
We had the #4 pick in the NBA draft and a pair of guys who had solid careers in Europe, should have won a MINIMUM of 25 games an d made the big dance.
Instead, 20 something less than that, and the NIT after flaming out in the MAC tourney yet again.
When you have the #4 pick in the draft and cannot even make the dance out of a conference like the MAC?
Go away.
We never made anything CLOSE to a move to address any of that. So he bailed.
His kid graduated, and he left.
Frankly, it was time to go. He whined when losing on the road. Never had a solution. Always had blame. Same thing happened in the tourney every year, no matter how good we were.
We had the #4 pick in the NBA draft and a pair of guys who had solid careers in Europe, should have won a MINIMUM of 25 games an d made the big dance.
Instead, 20 something less than that, and the NIT after flaming out in the MAC tourney yet again.
When you have the #4 pick in the draft and cannot even make the dance out of a conference like the MAC?
Go away.
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FalconTurf
- Peregrine
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Re: Jim Larranaga
There was talk of a new arena during Larranaga's time here. I believe they considered an arena that would house both basketball and hockey. The idea was floated out there briefly but never got traction. I believe an initial plan and rough drawings were created. There was a general feeling in the athletic department in the end that a bigger arena was not needed when the current one wasn't being sold out. The NCAA championship banner on Mercer was still new and hockey was drawing big and expanding their arena while women's basketball was starting increase crowds of loyal fans. The men's program showed glimmers but never got the same traction. There was also some resistance to any change or improvement. Ultimately the Ice Arena was expanded when the north end was filled in creating a new concessions area, some storage and restrooms - all problems solved in their minds. I'm glad they never built a hockey arena and dropped a court on the ice 15-20 days a year.
On the other hand something similar to Quinnipiac where an ice arena and basketball arena were built side-by-side should have been attempted. Shared main lobby, elevators/escalators up to the seating bowls, ticket office, Anderson Club reception area, shared food prep areas for concessions and other amenities that would not need duplicated would have made sense. Both arenas needed major upgrades (preferred replacement) in 1990 and those actions might have elevated all 3 programs while avoiding their unfortunate falls.
On the other hand something similar to Quinnipiac where an ice arena and basketball arena were built side-by-side should have been attempted. Shared main lobby, elevators/escalators up to the seating bowls, ticket office, Anderson Club reception area, shared food prep areas for concessions and other amenities that would not need duplicated would have made sense. Both arenas needed major upgrades (preferred replacement) in 1990 and those actions might have elevated all 3 programs while avoiding their unfortunate falls.
I proudly chose to be a Falcon and a Falcon I will remain until the end.
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Flipper
- The Global Village Idiot
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Re: Jim Larranaga
His team looked like Huger's in the 2nd half....just dribble around a bit and jack up a 3...a disciplined Kansas team outscored them something like 47-20 in the 2nd half
It's not the fall that hurts...it's when you hit the ground.
Re: Jim Larranaga
Miami overachieved this year and Larranaga has done a good job rebuilding things again. His program took a big hit being involved in the Federal case with the shoe companies paying players. He had his best group of recruits de commit when that all went down and he had to almost start over again down there. Now that may have been his own doing depending on his level of involvement with all that, but he definitely had a nice season. He needed it too with them hiring a new AD down there. If basketball missed the tournament he probably would’ve been forced out.
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BleedOrange
- Falcon Hoops Lifer
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Re: Jim Larranaga
Well, this was back in the 90's, back when we were paying $125K/year. Plus, George Mason doesn't have football.
"All posts are to be read in the voice of Lewis Black."
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BleedOrange
- Falcon Hoops Lifer
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Re: Jim Larranaga
Diemilkweed, that's an odd take on Larranaga. While his teams were just above .500, but he represented the university well. He went on to have far more success at George Mason and then got a major job at Miami. BG doesn't tell Larranaga to go away, Larranaga tells BG to go away. It's BG with the problem, not Larranaga.
"All posts are to be read in the voice of Lewis Black."
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HoopsFan
- Peregrine
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- Location: Quietly living in Central Ohio
Re: Jim Larranaga
I was happy to see Larranaga have a winning season (from being just a .500 coach) to get the heck outta BG. They'd drag out the new plans for the arena, promise the moon, and expect to keep a coach when football and hockey were king, and basketball was an afterthought. Thank goodness that Stroh stepped up with the initial pledge to finance the arena and Frack et al stepped in. A shame they forgot amenities like Loges and an escalator, but it is what it is.
Re: Jim Larranaga
Not surprising things were missed with Christopher and Elsasser doing the budgeting and planning!
