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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEJanuary 21, 2013Jim LarranagaCOACH LARRANAGA: Well, it was nice last week. We only had one game and we won it, and we won it in an unusual way. But it was still a nice road victory, and we're excited with where we are, and excited to be playing Duke on Wednesday. Q. I think when you lost Reggie, people were not sure how this team would fare without him. You've done well in conference play without him. Can you kind of explain how this team was able to click without one of your better players? COACH LARRANAGA: I'd say, first of all, Julian Gamble has done a fantastic job of moving into a starting role and playing a ton of minutes and defending, rebounding, scoring a little bit. But just being a great team player and doing whatever the coaches asked him to do. I also think it's opened up an opportunity for some guys who weren't playing that much, Raphael Akpejiori and Tonye Jekiri to take the role that Julian had, give giving some depth off our bench. And those guys have done a good job. They don't score a lot of points, but every minute they're out there is very valuable to us, because it gives Kenny Kadji and Julian Gamble much needed rest. But I think the chemistry of this team is very good. The experience that we have, the size and physicality of our team. I just think we're in a good position right now. We'd love to have Reggie back. He's working his tail off to be ready to go as soon as the doctors give him clearance. Q. When you look at some of Duke without Kelly, do you look and say, okay, I think they're a much more beatable team this week, and I think I know how to stop them, I guess? Or do they still look good to you? COACH LARRANAGA: Duke is Duke. Every player they have on their team is an outstanding athlete. Jefferson is a heck of a player. Murphy is really, really good. Hairston is good. I mean, they've got a lot of talent. I think Sulaimon is having a terrific freshman year. I just like their team. They're terrific defensively. They're terrific at the offensive end. One of the top two or three teams in the country in all the national polls and they've earned their way there. I don't think anything has changed, other than Ryan Kelly is a great player that really stretches your defense, making threes. But they just have a different weapon there. It's a different player playing a different style because his strengths are a little bit different. But still a very, very good player. Q. Duke has the very high national ranking, of course. But in conference play, you're in first place and not them. What kind of a build‑up do you sense around campus for this game? This is maybe the biggest game at Miami that I can remember in a number of years. Though they've won some big games there. But do you sense a real buzz around campus for this? COACH LARRANAGA: I don't think there is any question there's been a huge buzz and there's been for a while. I really like the way it's growing, the progress it's making. Last year when my staffer and I arrived, it was thought we don't draw unless you play Carolina or Duke. But right now we've had a great crowd against Michigan State. We've had a great crowd against Maryland. We're going to have a sellout crowd. I don't think there is a ticket that's going to be available. I've had to turn down friends who normally I'd be begging them to come and give us some support. But now I don't have tickets myself. We have a lot of people talking about our basketball program right now and we're headed in the right direction. Of course, the excitement surrounds that we've won four games and we're 4‑0 in conference play, but it's only four games. We play 18 of them. If there were only four games left, that would be a different story. But there is a lot of excitement, and it should be a great atmosphere here at the Bank United Center. Q. How are your players responding to this sort of atmosphere which has cropped up now and then for Miami in the past, but as you say, seems to be building? That puts kind of a different light on things for them. COACH LARRANAGA: Well, I think players love the excitement. There is talk that we'll have students camping out tomorrow night so that they can get the best seats in the house come Wednesday. Our players are students. They go to classes with these other students. They hear about the excitement that's going on campus. They know that we've drawn good crowds already this season. It's a sign of progress for our program. It's only one step, but it's a step in the right direction. Q. I want to extend on what you were talking about the excitement for this game and the step in the right direction. Historically, Miami has not been one of the great basketball programs in the ACC. I know your first job is to build a great team and have success. But when you're playing the foundation for a program, what has to happen to generate the excitement, the infrastructure that separates the NorthCarolinas, the Dukes, even the N.C. States from the Miamis and Clemsons that have never been historically very good? COACH LARRANAGA: Well, I think there is a difference in tradition. If you look at the Miami basketball program, you've got to remember that the program was dropped for a number of years and didn't come back until 1985. Back then, you're starting from the basement level, even below the basement. Just trying to lay some form of foundation. But now, basically 27 years later, we've got a beautiful facility on campus called the Bank United Center. A very nice home court, a beautiful practice facility, we have a beautiful campus to attract people to. My staff and I have reached out to the local community to try to get young kids to follow our program. Got a very successful camp. Those campers come to games. They come down to the locker room afterwards to visit with our players, because those are the guys that coached them. We had our first high school basketball game in the Bank United Center for the first time this past weekend. Friday was the first high school basketball game ever played here, so the fans who came to that game, high school fans, had never even been in the Bank United Center to see a basketball game. So they enjoyed it, and those are the kind of people that become season ticket holders and fans of the Miami Hurricanes program. And that is the direction we want to go in. And the community of Coral Gables and City of Miami has been very supportive. Q. How tough is it to get a program off the ground? To get that kind of momentum started? COACH LARRANAGA: It's very, very challenging. We had the same situation at George Mason. We were in a large, metropolitan area where the competition for the entertainment dollar was keen. Everybody said we couldn't draw and we couldn't build a great basketball program because, basically, Maryland and Georgetown dominated the DC area. And the fans that were sports fans or pro fans followed the wizards and the Caps. But we didn't listen to the naysayers. We just did what we planned on doing here in Miami, and that is build a grass roots network of people who support our program. Build a foundation and a winning attitude, and getting kids who make a commitment and want to play at the highest level of college basketball. There is no question the ACC is the best basketball league in the country now, especially when you add Pittsburgh and Notre Dame to the mix. I think we're headed in the right direction, and we're going to continue to head in that direction. Q. You must have seen that potential when you go from a strong George Mason program to a Miami program that didn't have that support. Was it the ACC? Was there something else you saw that made you anxious to make that jump? COACH LARRANAGA: I was excited to make the jump for a number of reasons. Number one, I had coached in the ACC for several years at the University of Virginia and loved every minute of it. It was the highest level of competition. And we had two opportunities to win the National Championship. We got to the Final Four in '81 and '84. And always in the back of my mind was wanting the opportunity to coach in the ACC as a head coach, and lead a team to the Final Four, and hopefully win a National Championship. The second, I've always had a love affair with the state of Florida. My father was born and raised in Florida in Key West, and we always vacationed here. My wife and I owned a home here for the last ten years. And this is an area, the state of Florida, has a lot of great high school basketball talent, and we felt like we could recruit well while building a program around local talent. With those three things in mind, we made the decision to come here, and we're excited to know that we're making strides to take us where we want to be. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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