A Coach Finds Himself Where His Dreams Came True

Providence was tempting, but the prospect of leaving the school he had taken on a magical Final Four run was too much for Jim Larranaga. (By John Mcdonnell -- The Washington Post)
Buy Photo

"I don't want to call it a tough decision," he said, "because it was a no-lose decision. I could stay at a place that I loved or go to my alma mater, another place that I loved. That's not tough, but it is complicated."

From the minute Tim Welsh was fired two weeks ago, Larranaga was bombarded by phone calls and e-mails from old teammates, classmates and friends at Providence. When the call from Athletic Director Bob Driscoll arrived, Larranaga knew he had to listen.

"It's my alma mater," he said. "It's a place I love, a place I'm still connected to, it's a place I want to see do well. Plus, it was a job I had wanted for years and years."

Eight days ago, Larranaga met with Driscoll in a hotel conference room near Dulles International Airport. They talked for three hours. The next day, Larranaga got an e-mail from George Mason President Alan Merten asking if they could meet Saturday. Merten had heard from Athletic Director Tom O'Connor about what was going on and wanted to let Larranaga know how much the school wanted him to stay.

"The great thing about Dr. Merten is how excited he gets about everything at George Mason," Larranaga said. "He had been to a dinner the night before at which one of our faculty members was honored as, I think, the meteorologist of the year and he was telling me all about that. He's always been great at making people feel they're part of something great at the school. He reminded me again how much I enjoyed being part of all that."

The next day it was Providence's turn again. This time Shanley flew to town and spent most of the afternoon at Larranaga's house in Fairfax, telling him his vision for the basketball program and how important it was to him for Providence to be competitive in the Big East. Larranaga was impressed and, not surprisingly, torn.

"Before he left, he offered me the job," Larranaga said. "I knew I had a lot of thinking to do. To me, there was no simple answer. I wanted input, and I wanted to think."

He got the input from Liz and from their two sons, Jay and Jon. He also called his older brothers John and Bob and his old friend Bob Rotella, a sports psychologist he became friends with while at Virginia. He talked to Gavitt. All basically said the same thing: You're the one who is going to be doing the rebuilding job or turning down your alma mater; we'll support you either way.

"We talked a lot," Larranaga said. "I listened a lot, I thought a lot. I knew I needed to make a decision soon, but I just wasn't certain."

There were some funny moments. Jay Larranaga, who plays professional basketball in Italy, e-mailed one day and, after pointing out to his father that Providence plays its game at "Dunkin' Donuts Arena," said he should demand unlimited breakfast coupons from Dunkin' Donuts because "their bagel sausages are silly good."

"He's got young kids," Larranaga said. "He knows about this stuff."

Larranaga was so uncertain about what to do that he canceled his flight to San Antonio on Wednesday morning because he needed more time to think and didn't want to be surrounded by the chaos of the coaches' hotel while deciding. He talked to Driscoll one more time Wednesday morning and then set a personal deadline for himself: noon that day.