Larra'aga Honored with Mason Medal

Photos courtesy of George Mason University 

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami men’s basketball Coach Jim Larrañaga received the Mason Medal, George Mason University’s highest honorary award, at GMU’s commencement exercises on Saturday, May 14 at EagleBank Arena on the Fairfax, Va., campus.

“I feel very proud to accept this medal on behalf of so many people,” said Larranaga, who helped put George Mason on the map when he led it out of the unheralded Colonial Athletic Conference to the 2006 NCAA Final Four. “I might be the one that is being honored, but it’s really more about the great team effort we got from the time we arrived.”

Larrañaga was joined by his wife, Liz, his two sons Jay and Jon, and daughter-in-law Elyssa at the ceremony.

The George Mason Medal is designated by the George Mason University Board of Visitors to be the university’s highest honorary award. This medal is designed to honor George Mason, the man. Those receiving the award should have a record of service to their community, state, or nation consistent with the level and quality of George Mason’s public service in his own time. George Mason, a native of Northern Virginia, was never elected to public office, but he was a public leader in the cause of freedom during the Revolutionary War and the formative years of the United States of America.

On April 1, 1997 Larrañaga became the Head Basketball Coach at George Mason University, taking over a program that had experienced seven consecutive losing seasons. He immediately began laying the foundation for turning the program into a winner. Coach L guided Mason to five NCAA Tournament appearances including an unprecedented run to the 2006 Final Four that captured the nation’s attention, defeating Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State and UConn along the way.

Larrañaga built the Patriots’ program into a perennial contender in the Colonial Athletic Association, winning more games (273) than any other coach in program and conference history en route to three conference titles. A two-time CAA Coach of the Year honoree, he led the Patriots to a 27-7 overall record and 16-2 conference mark en route to the CAA regular-season title and fifth NCAA Tournament appearance under his leadership.

In 2006, Larrañaga became the first coach at a mid-major school to take his team to the Final Four in 27 years and earned an at-large berth for a CAA team for the first time in 20 years. Along the way, he guided Mason to a school record in wins, its first national ranking, first appearance in the Top 10, first wins over Top 10 teams and multiple Patriot Center sellouts.

A study by Mason’s Dr. Robert Baker estimated the Final Four run was worth $600 million dollars in earned brand awareness for Mason. This free publicity is credited, at least in part, for an increase in student applications, a heightened profile, and launched a sense of institutional pride that has grown exponentially. During “March Madness 2006” the University Bookstore took in $850,000 in memorabilia sales, including purchases of 30,000 Mason basketball T-shirts.

After serving as the head coach at Mason for 14 seasons, Larrañaga was named the head coach at the University of Miami on April 22, 2011 where he has continued his success. In 2013, he was named the AP and Naismith National Coach of the Year. He was also chosen the ACC Coach of the Year after leading Miami to the 2013 NCAA Sweet 16, and winning the school’s first ACC regular season and tournament championships. In 2016, he was named the ACC Coach of the Year and led the Hurricanes to the Sweet 16 for the second time in four seasons.

A 1971 graduate of Providence College, Larrañaga was inducted into the Providence College Hall of Fame in 1991. Jim and his wife, Liz, have two sons – Jay and Jon, a devout Mason alum, who was a part of two CAA championship teams from 1999-2003. The Larrañagas have four grandchildren: Tia, James, Jon Temple and Henry.

By Damian Cristodero, George Mason University
https://www2.gmu.edu/news/236521

Jim Larrañaga isn’t one for individual awards.

“I think everything in life is about teamwork,” he said, “how people bring out the best in each other.”

So at spring commencement, when the former George Mason University men’s basketball coach receives the Mason Medal, the university’s highest honorary award, he will focus on those who supported him during his 14 seasons with the Patriots.

“I feel very proud to accept this medal on behalf of so many people,” said Larranaga, who helped put George Mason on the map when he led it out of the unheralded Colonial Athletic Conference to the 2006 NCAA Final Four. “I might be the one that is being honored, but it’s really more about the great team effort we got from the time we arrived.”

Larranaga, who since 2011 has coached the University of Miami, said his regard for Mason runs deep and includes two endowed scholarships he and his wife, Liz, established for the athletic department. He credits then-university president Alan Merten with integrating him into the community.

“Not just as a basketball coach but as an ambassador and a spokesperson for our athletic department and our university,” Larranaga said. “I had a chance to deal with the media and talk about how great the university was.”

He did it again in March, when he brought his Miami players to EagleBank Arena to practice before the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

“It felt,” he said, “like we were going home.”

Larranaga, whose 273 victories are a Mason record and who finished his Patriots career with 13 consecutive winning seasons and five NCAA appearances, said he lives by a philosophy based on attitude, commitment and class.

“If I don’t set the right example, if I don’t have the right attitude, if I don’t behave in a first-class manner, how can I expect others to?” he said. “It’s all about setting the proper example, laying the foundation for success.”

Even so, the Mason Medal is not about him, he said. “It’s about the coaches who worked for me, the players who played for me. It’s about my family and how much they were part of the community, and about Dr. Alan Merten and his wife, Sally, for creating an environment of inclusiveness that allowed us to accomplish the things we did.”