The swinging of the coaching carousel continued on Sunday morning as USF head coach Bryan Hodgson agreed to terms with Providence. Hodgson is the latest coach to find a job as Boston College's search continues into week three. There has been a lot of names floated for the Eagles, including UConn assistant Luke Murray, New Mexico head coach Eric Olen and Tulsa HC Eric Konkol. But one name seems to have the most smoke around him right now, and that is Los Angeles Clippers assistant Jay Larranaga.
The son of legendary Miami Hurricanes head coach Jim Larranaga, Jay has been connected to the Boston College this entire search. Clearly his connection with Athletic Director Blake James is something that seems critical in what has to be a strong hire for a Boston College program that hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 2009, and hasn't been to the ACC tournament in the past two years.
Larranaga hasn't been a head coach yet at the college level, though he coached in the G-League and the Ireland National Team. But he has a lengthy history working with some of the NBA's best head coaches including Brad Stevens (Celtics) and Ty Lue (Clippers). During his time working with the pair he was critical working in player development with players like Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. He is very highly regarded as an X and O type coach, something that would be refreshing for Boston College nation after watching the Eagles lose over and over again this past season as Earl Grant was outcoached in the final minutes.
But if Larranaga is the choice there are a few questions that would remain. First of all, questions remain about his history. Yes he has been highly regarded as an assistant, and he has been linked to quite a few jobs both in the NBA and college ranks. But why has he always been the bride's maid and never the bride? At 51 you would have expected if he was so highly regarded he would have landed a job at George Mason, Georgia Tech, the Celtics, or the other programs that he has been linked to over the past decade. And does Boston College really want to put the program in the hands of someone who has never run a program (G-League and Ireland don't really count).
Secondly, and this falls on James, what will the financial commitment be to the program. This offseason we saw football head coach Bill O'Brien talk about the improved financial commitment to the program. This is a MUST for BC basketball, no matter who the coach they hire is. Yes, the Eagles have announced a full rev share, but that isn't going to be enough if they want to be serious about their basketball program. They need to up the resources for everything, including money to build the roster. Surely this will be a conversation that James will be having with every potential candidate for the job, Larranaga included. An X and O's guy would be great for the Eagles, but still they are going to need to be competitive both in the recruiting world and in the transfer portal.
Finally, the biggest piece if Larranaga is the guy will be his assistants. He is going to need strong recruiters who will help open doors and land recruits and transfers. His lack of experience in this part of the job will demand that he surround himself with experience.
Now we sit here on Sunday and are left to wonder what is going on with the search. If it is going to be Larranaga, why the delay? It's not like he is in the NCAA tournament, and he was coaching with the Clippers last night. It has to make you think that either they are interviewing more candidates (which was reported earlier this weekend), or that they are waiting for a coach to finish in the NCAA Tournament/NIT. Our Mike Sidhly explained on Sunday morning that another name is coming up and more (VIP). Blake James told the Boston Globe this morning that he will have a head coach in place by the time the transfer portal on April 7th.
But for now we continue to wait....