Miami head coach Jim Larranaga reveals stance on possible retirement: 'No intentions of retiring'

Jim Larranaga isn’t going anywhere, and that’s music to Miami Hurricanes faithful’s ears.

The leader of the Hurricanes may be a ripe 73 years old, but that isn’t stopping him from leading Miami on NCAA Tournament runs now, and for the foreseeable future. During a segment on CBS’ Road to the Final Four ahead of the San Diego State Aztecs and Creighton Blue Jays facing off for the third of four spots in the Final Four, Larranaga left no doubt regarding his retirement status.

“I have no intentions of retiring,” stated Larranaga, loud and clear. “My wife won’t let me. So as long as I can coach, I want to continue doing it.”

Happy wife, happy life — or in this case, happy Miami fans. Larranaga has Miami back in the Elite Eight for the second consecutive season, ironically facing off against another Big 12 superpower.

Last season, Miami fell to the eventual NCAA Tournament champions in the Kansas Jayhawks by a score of 76-50 in the Elite Eight. While the Hurricanes possessed a 35-29 lead at halftime, that evaporated over the second half, as the Jayhawks outscored Miami by a resounding 32 points on their way to victory.

Looking back on that game, Larranaga was asked by the media whether there were any lessons he learned from the game.

“Don’t get in foul trouble,” Larranaga said. “Really, we were ahead by six at halftime against Kansas in the Elite Eight, but we had several guys sitting on the bench in foul trouble, and that really made the difference. We could not sustain the effort. We had a couple of guys foul out.

“You’ve got to give Kansas and basically David McCormack the credit because he was awesome. They had a great team, and they ended up winning the National Championship.”

Now, Larranaga and his squad will be hoping to avoid a similar fate against the Texas Longhorns, who represent one of the hottest teams in the country entering the showdown. Regardless, the Hurricanes are pretty dang good in their own right, coming off a win over vaunted Houston, the top seed in their region entering March Madness.

With a spot in the Final Four on the line, Jim Larranaga and the Miami Hurricanes, as well as Rodney Terry’s Texas squad will be giving it their all to get to Houston. The game tips off at 5:05 p.m. ET on CBS, and the Longhorns are 3.5-point favorites at the moment.