Coach L’s lessons pay off

The coach knew what had to be done.

Jim Larranaga, then the men’s basketball coach at Bowling Green, knew a player needed his help and rushed to be by his side. The life of star point guard Antonio Daniels was about to be shattered and basketball suddenly became an afterthought.

“I woke up at 6 o’clock in the morning or 5 o’clock in the morning and Coach L and [assistant] Stan Heath, who is now the head coach at Arkansas, were both standing over my bed,” the Washington Wizards guard said of the events of Feb.8, 1996. “Coach Larranaga told me, ’Your mom is going to call you in a minute. I looked at him kind of weird, like ’What are you doing here? It is so early.’ My mom called and told me the news.”

Daniels’ mother, Alice, soon informed him that his older brother, Chris, a senior basketball player at the University of Dayton, had died of cardiac arrhythmia. Larranaga accompanied Daniels to Dayton and remained with his player throughout the grieving period.

“Coach L was with me through the most trying time of my life,” said Daniels, now in his ninth NBA season. “He was just there for me in the worst times of my career and also the best times. He is a great man, one of the most influential people in my basketball career and life, even though he may not know that.”

Though Larranaga has changed schools and now is in his ninth season at George Mason, his commitment to his players as a mentor and support system has never wavered. And while the Patriots coach has changed lives through his teachings, his most impressive professional transformation has been taking over George Mason’s losing, scandal-ridden program from Paul Westhead and turning it into a model of success on and off the court.

The Patriots have become so synonymous with victories that Larranaga is on the verge of becoming the winningest coach in the 21-year-old Colonial Athletic Association. It could happen tonight in George Mason’s first-place showdown with UNC Wilmington at Patriot Center. The 56-year-old is tied with former Richmond coach Dick Tarrant, who had 106 league wins from 1982 to 1993.

“I don’t give breaking records a whole lot of thought,” said Larranaga, who has 353 career wins overall and 155 with the Patriots. “It has never been a goal of mine. I think success and reaching a milestone like this is just part of the journey.”

The journey at George Mason has included two trips to NCAA tournaments, a pair of trips to the NIT and a program-record 23 wins in 2003-04. This season’s squad is poised for another NCAA tournament run with a 16-5 record, including 10-2 in the CAA. The Patriots boast a Ratings Percentage Index ranking of 35 and could be considered for the CAA’s first at-large NCAA bid in two decades, if they don’t win the conference tournament.

However, Larranaga’s impact has little to do with numbers even as the wins amass.

The coach teaches basketball and his trademark scramble defense (the Patriots are seventh in the nation in field goal percentage defense at 36.4 while allowing a CAA-low 55.6 points), and also serves as a mentor for players like Daniels, former Patriots star George Evans and the current class.

“He has just changed my outlook and my attitude on life,” said Lamar Butler, a senior guard. “He changed me as a person. I have grown up so much since I have been here.”

It is a lesson Larranaga first learned as a high school player in New York City playing at Archbishop Molloy from 1963 to 1967 for legendary prep coach Jack Curran, the Big Apple’s version of DeMatha’s Morgan Wootten.

“He changed my life,” Larranaga said. “He was my inspiration for wanting to coach. He was my mentor for things related to basketball and things off the court as well. He disciplined me when I needed discipline in my life.

“He never allowed a player to say ’yeah’ or ’nah.’ It was always ’yes’ or ’no’ or ’yes, sir’ or ’no, sir.’ He was very specific about that. He always emphasized that he never told us to do things. It was always our choice. Of course, he always followed that up with if you don’t do them, I don’t have to play you. I don’t have to have you in my program.”

Larranaga’s education continued at Providence College, where he played for Big East Conference founder Dave Gavitt and Joe Mullaney, who left the Friars to coach the Los Angeles Lakers. The George Mason coach also served as an assistant to Terry Holland at Virginia and was part of Final Four teams in 1981 and 1984.

The Patriots’ coach does not scold or use profanity-laden tirades. He asks his players to take off hats and headphones indoors, to dress and speak well and to treat people with respect. Larranaga’s lessons start with a quote of the day before each practice or game.

“Where I come from, I wasn’t taught about image,” said Butler, who is from Oxon Hill. “With Coach L, he showed me how image is everything. It is true. Just how you interact with people, talking to people, it doesn’t matter. You always want a positive image. He has done a good job in molding this program into a perfect image.”

The university now has a program it can be proud of outside Patriot Center as well as inside. George Mason had become a laughingstock under Westhead, and Larranaga inherited a program that had seven consecutive losing seasons. After going 9-18 in his first season, George Mason has clinched its eighth straight winning season.

The statistic Larranaga is most proud of is that the Patriots have won at least 10 conference games each of those eight seasons.

“They were always so hard to prepare for because of their great defense,” said West Virginia coach John Beilein, who coached against Larranaga with then-CAA rival Richmond from 1997 to 2002. “And the other thing I always noticed was his players got better at George Mason as he developed them in the program. Of all the great coaches who have been in the CAA, it is quite an accomplishment that Jim is the all-time leader.”

Not surprisingly, Larranaga is humble about the individual achievement, and was quick to credit assistant coaches, players, trainers, managers and administrators for making it possible. And besides, he is just passing on the lessons he was fortunate to learn.

“When you experience great coaching and realize the influence it has had on your life, my goal has always been to have that same kind of positive influence on the players who played for me,” he said. “You are not going to reach everybody, but I like to think that a lot of the kids who have come to play for me at George Mason can look back on the experience and say I learned a lot — not just about basketball — but about what it takes to be successful in life.”