“No one thought we could do it,” has become a cliché when teams have success. When it comes from an Alabama football player or Duke basketball player, it can induce eye-rolling.
But the cliché rings true for the Hurricanes. No one expected them to accomplish what they did. Miami was picked to finish 12th in the ACC before the season began — a fact players and coaches brought up several times during the season, including after Sunday’s blowout loss to Kansas in the Elite Eight. Instead, they won 26 games and came one half away from the program’s first trip to the Final Four.
“I told the players afterwards — and I really mean it — they accomplished so much, not just in basketball, but they ignited a community,” coach Jim Larrañaga said on Sunday. “We had so much support throughout the season and especially in the NCAA tournament. And I think generating that kind of enthusiasm for the University of Miami in a basketball program that you have to remember didn’t even exist from 1972 to 1985.”
Despite impressive wins over Duke and North Carolina — two teams that reached the Final Four — Miami did not earn a spot in the Associated Press top 25 during the regular season. However, the Hurricanes won 26 games, third-most in UM history. Only Larrañaga’s 2012-13 and 2015-16 teams won more games.
The Hurricanes’ Elite Eight run was the furthest Miami has ever made it in the NCAA tournament.
“And so now we’ve been to the Sweet 16 three times now and to the Elite Eight once in this decade,” Larrañaga said. “And ... we think we’re heading in the right direction. And we think we’ll have the tremendous support of our administration and our community.”
Larrañaga’s team will look a lot different when the 2022-23 season starts this fall. Leading scorer Kameron McGusty is out of eligibility after six years of college basketball, as are starters Charlie Moore and Sam Waardenburg. Other players, like guards Jordan Miller and Isaiah Wong, could opt to turn pro.
Larrañaga could supplement returning players with transfers — that strategy worked out well with Moore and Miller this season.
The Hurricanes also have a solid recruiting class coming in for next season. Miami’s 2022 class is ranked 17th in the nation and fifth in the ACC, according to 247Sports. The Hurricanes’ incoming recruiting class is made up of four-star forward A.J. Casey, four-star center Favour Aire and three-star forwards Danilo Jovanovich and Christian Watson.
Those freshmen will join Wong and Miller, if they elect to return, as well as rising fourth-year junior forward Anthony Walker (14 minutes, 4.9 points per game), rising sophomore guard Bensley Joseph (13.3 minutes, 2.3 points per game) and rising sophomore guard Wooga Poplar (8.6 minutes, 2.3 points per game). Guard Harlond Beverly could also return after missing most of the season due to back surgery.
“I told all the younger guys in the locker room, I told them I loved them,” McGusty said. “I told them to take care of this place for the next three years that y’all are here. Just being able to accomplish what we accomplished this year, now teams coming in or new teams, two, three years down the line, that Elite Eight is going to be the goal.”
