As someone who wasn’t shy about offering criticism of Larranaga over the years, it doesn’t surprise me to see you post this.
He was a sensational college player, and is a very proud Cane who we should all root for… but he does not currently possess the wisdom and maturity required to be a coach at the highest level.
I couldn’t continue to watch the video after he said imagine me on the team in place of Poplar… that is just not how someone who is ready to develop and lead young men speaks.
He sounds unfulfilled and still in pursuit of his own glory. That is, unfortunately, incompatible with being a great coach.
I stand by every comment, statement and evaluation I post on this site. I have no regrets or remorse on anything I have ever said and I will never apologize nor take anything back.
My harshest criticism of Coach L came during the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 when the win totals were 14, 15 and 10 respectively as I had to watch a high major basketball team take the floor with 6 or 7 scholarship players. Primarily because of injuries but also because the full allotment of scholarships were not used. I don't know what I am suppose to say under those circumstances.
Would it make you feel better if I said "Keep up the good work". Or "Your doing a good job".
I am very realistic on my observations.
Coach L is the best basketball coach at Miami. However, it's also the first time they actually hired someone who tried to coach basketball at Miami instead of getting one last paycheck before heading into retirement. Previous coaches took the Miami job just to relocate to Florida to pick a retirement home.
As far as my statement on Darius Rice. I stand by that as I feel he should be part of the staff. I never said at what level or capacity. I will not take this opportunity to talk about the current assistant coaches nor the lack of player development. From a player development standpoint alone, Darius Rice being part of the staff would be beneficial.
Lastly, how do you know the level of basketball wisdom or maturity Darius Rice has along with whether or not he could coach or develop young men. Most people in their 40s look back on their life and say, I wish I could have done this or that differently. That is part of the growth and development of a human. Simply put, it's a teachable moment. Normally, after acquiring a few teachable moments, it inspires older people to teach younger to help them avoid the mistakes of the previous generation.
What he said was really not that bad. It was just a fun hypothetical statement. Let Darius enjoy this moment as this is a moment he wishes would have occurred when he was at Miami.