Jim Larranaga reveals Miami's biggest needs in transfer portal

It’s safe to call Miami‘s season last year a success, as they were ACC regular season champions and made it to the Final Four for the first time in program history. But now the Hurricanes have to go back to the drawing board and replace a bulk of their production from last season, which many programs now do through the transfer portal. Head coach Jim Larranaga was recently asked how many scholarships the Hurricanes currently stand with and what his plan is in approaching the transfer portal this offseason.

“Well Barry what I would tell you is recruiting is very fluid, and so we’ve got to constantly be updating our thoughts and our actions,” Larranaga said. “So I believe right now we’re at nine, things change all the time, kids could commit so we’ll be reevaluating that I’m guessing every day to every week for the next month or so.”

The Hurricanes lost their two leading scorers from last season Isaiah Wong and Jordan Miller, who have both declared for the NBA Draft. The Hurricanes have also lost four role players to the transfer portal this offseason, but Miami’s recent success on a national stage could help them replace all that talent in recruiting through the portal.

“Well, I think success always breeds success. So I think prospects look at us, they’re a little more familiar with us, they know we reached the Elite Eight last year, they know we made the Final Four, they know the guys are graduating,” Larranaga said. “And I think the one thing’s very consistent with all transfers, they’re looking for a good landing spot where they fit. And so we’ve encouraged them to look closely at our roster, and our league, and our geographical location, get to know our players, and then decide for themselves.”

There’s no question that Miami has a lot to offer for any recruit. But Larranaga also made it clear that he’s not just looking for talented players, but high-character people off the court as well, as he looks to construct a roster this offseason that can match the success they achieved last season.

“We’re a great academic school so we want kids that are good students who will graduate. We want kids that are really role models in the community so my coaches are very very focused on finding the right guys. And then obviously when you’re losing the caliber of player like an Isiah Wong, or a Jordan Miller, or some of the other guys that are moving on you feel like hey, we need to find the right guys because if we do and they compliment the guys we already have we could have a terrific team again next year,” Larranaga concluded.