Coach L and Mac Earn All-District Honors
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami Head Coach Jim Larrañaga earned the US Basketball Writers Association District IV Coach of the Year and Sheldon McClellan was named to the USBWA All-District Team, as announced March 8.
This season Coach L’s Canes defeated five ranked teams: No. 3 Virginia, No. 11 Louisville, No. 16 Utah, No. 22/20 Butler and No. 24/20 Duke, with back-to-back wins over Virginia and Louisville. Miami has been ranked in the polls a school record 16-straight weeks, and have been ranked top-15 for a school record 13 weeks, including a current streak of five-straight weeks.
Larrañaga led the Hurricanes to a school-record tying 24 regular season wins, a 15-1 home record and a perfect 9-0 mark in ACC home games. Miami’s 13 wins in ACC play were also the second most in school history. The Canes won the Puerto Rico Tip Off, defeating No. 16 Utah, No. 22/20 Butler and Mississippi State by 20.0 points per game. Puerto Rico native Angel Rodriguez was named MVP of the event.
Larrañaga was named ACC Coach of the Year for the second time in four seasons and three players – Sheldon McClellan, Tonye Jekiri and Angel Rodriguez – were named All-ACC, while Jekiri was on the ACC Defensive Team. Davon Reed was also on the All-ACC Academic Team.
Voted to the All-ACC Second Team, McClellan scored 20+ points in seven outings and 14+ points in 20 games. He has scored 10+ in every ACC game, and 20+ in five league outings. He is the third-most efficient offensive player in the country among players used in 20 percent of possessions, and 20th overall, according to KenPom.com on March 7.
The Houston native has posted the 15th-best shooting percentage (49.5%) in the country among guards, and has the top shooting percentage among guards in the ACC, according to stats on NCAA.org on March 7. McClellan is 17th in the ACC (all players) in 2-point field goal percentage (54.6), ninth in true shooting percentage (60.7) and 10th in free throw percentage (83.5). He is also fourth in the ACC in turnover rate (9.6).
Third-seeded Miami opens play at the ACC Tournament on Thursday, March 10 at 9 p.m. in the quarterfinal round against No. 6 Virginia Tech, No. 11 Florida State or No. 14 Boston College.
