Jordan Miller hilariously grades Jim Larranaga's postgame dance in locker room after beating Houston
Jim Larranaga was feeling himself after Miami knocked off No. 1 seed Houston to advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. That was apparent by his locker room dance afterward.
Cameras captured Larranaga showing off his moves following the upset victory, and the video quickly made its way across social media. The players cheered him on, and Jordan Miller gave his coach’s skills a high grade — although it wasn’t perfect.
“I think we can agree it was like an A,” Miller said. “Not an A+, it was a little stiff. But he’s still very mobile for his age. … It was great. We were all hyped up. We love when Coach L dances. That’s probably the best celebration we could look forward to. No offense, Coach.”
Miami basketball’s Twitter posted the video that showed two players — Bensley Joseph and Nisine Poplar — joining in with Larranaga as the rest of the team clapped along. If you listen closely, you can hear some sweet sounds in the background. It’s a song Larranaga knows well and plays often.
“I can tell you the song. It’s by the Commodores,” Larranaga said. “It’s called ‘Night Shift.’ It’s kind of in memory of Marvin Gaye. I listen to it all the time. My wife is tired of me playing it.”
That said, he wasn’t going to grade himself. He left that to Miller and the players.
“I’m not evaluating it,” Larranaga joked.
This isn’t the first time Larranaga’s locker room dance moves have gone viral. But it had to feel even better this time around after Miami defeated a No. 1 seed to get that much closer to a Final Four appearance. The Hurricanes contained the Houston offense, holding the Cougars to 37.5% shooting and just 9-for-31 from three-point territory to come away with the 89-75 win.
All five Miami starters reached double figures, led by 26 points from Nijel Pack and 20 points from Isaiah Wong. Miller also chipped in 13 points to go with six rebounds and four assists. But it was Pack’s showing — he went 8-for-12 from the field, including 7-for-10 from three-point distance — that garnered plenty of praise from Larranaga in the postgame press conference.
“He was ridiculous,” Larranaga said. “I don’t know how far those shots are. People say to me, what do you say when he misses one of those long shots? What I say is keep shooting. The guy is a great shooter. These guys are great offensive players.”
Miami now has one more test to get through on Sunday when the Hurricanes take on No. 2 seed Texas with a trip to the Final Four on the line.