Jim Larranaga liked to bring in sports psychologist Bob Rotella for two reasons.
The George Mason University men’s basketball coach did so if he believed an individual player needed some help. Or he did so if he felt he had a good team that needed some extra clarity to tap into their potential.
In October 2005, Larranaga brought in Rotella for the second purpose. The Patriots were coming off a disappointing 16-13 finish but returned enough pieces to put together something special.
During a meeting on campus, Rotella asked each of the players to close his eyes and visualize what he believed would comprise a successful season.
Most of the responses were typical: Win the conference or win an NCAA Tournament game. But Lamar Butler took it further. He visualized that the Patriots would make the Final Four. At the time it might have sounded far-fetched, but was in fact prophetic.
“I think we were all surprised, but he had a certain level of conviction and confidence that lifted the team in that moment,” said Chris Fleming, a freshman on that 2005-06 team.
A mid-major that had been winless in its three previous NCAA Tournaments, Mason shocked the college basketball world in 2006 when it indeed reached the Final Four in an unforgettable fashion. As an 11th seed in the East Region, the Patriots won four games, including three over perennial powers Michigan State, North Carolina and UConn, to advance to the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. At the time, the Patriots tied the 1986 LSU team as the lowest seed to reach the Final Four.
Silencing the critics
To get there, the Patriots overcame numerous doubters who believed they had no place in the 64-team NCAA Tournament to begin with after they did not win their conference tournament.
But Larranaga saw it differently. He pointed to GMU’s 23-6 record and its strong Rating Percentage Index (No. 24) to firmly believe the Patriots deserved an at-large berth.
Most of all, though, he knew his players better than anyone else and what they were capable of. It’s something he constantly reminded them of.
“These were people who had never seen us play,” Larranaga said of the critics. “We were going to show that George Mason can right now compete for a national championship. We were that good.”
The Patriots were a veteran squad, but Larranaga was the linchpin who lifted the team to unprecedented heights.
“He was such a leader,” Fleming said. “He was so polished and so genuine.”
Larranaga certainly had the basketball acumen to get the most out of his players. In one strategic move, he switched 6-4 sophomore Folarin Campbell to the point and moved Tony Skinn to the wing after the Patriots’ 72-52 loss to Creighton in their third game of the season that left them with a 1-2 record.
“It was a huge sacrifice for [Skinn] to give up the point guard position his senior year, but Tony was a great scorer,” Larranaga said. “We needed someone to distribute to the other great scorers.”
But beyond his strategic astuteness, Larranaga also had the ability to keep his players locked in. Understanding the gravity of the moment, Larranaga exemplified the principle that says as the leader goes so goes the organization.
If Larranaga stayed loose, so did the team. There were times to focus and times to relax. Larranaga did both equally well in equal measure and his players responded in kind.
“I tried to exude confidence, and I did that throughout the tournament,” Larranaga said. “We were very good and were enjoying a lot of success. But I wanted them to have fun.”
Larranaga kept his players loose as well with catchphrases and astute observations.
When preparing for Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round, Larranaga reminded his team about their meeting with the Spartans the previous season, which Michigan State won 66-60.
“Are we six points better than we were then?” Larranaga asked his team. “We are a lot better.”
Before facing defending national champion North Carolina in the Sweet 16, Larranaga famously told his players, “Their fans think they’re Supermen. Our fans know we’re kryptonite.”
The saying became so popular that George Mason used it on T-shirts.
“It was great marketing,” Larranaga said. “That shirt sold well.”
Larranaga motivated his players against top-seeded UConn in the East Region final by seizing on two opportunities.
First, he reminded them that star forward Will Thomas had played UConn’s top player, Rudy Gay, seven times in high school and had beaten Gay every time.
Larranaga also told his players that the Huskies players had no idea what conference Mason played in.
For this game, Larranaga told them that the Patriots’ conference, the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), actually stood for the “Connecticut Assassins Association” and “we’re going to shoot these guys down.”
“I loved every one of those guys”
In amassing 744 wins over 43 years as a head coach at four different programs, the 76-year-old Larranaga has accomplished plenty. But during that time, three teams definitely stand out.
Two are from Miami, which he took over in the spring of 2011 after 14 seasons at Mason. In 2013, the Hurricanes won the ACC regular-season and tournament titles. In 2023, Miami reached its first Final Four.
The other, of course, is the 2006 George Mason Final Four team.
Larranaga, who retired from coaching last December, lives in Coral Gables, Fla., with his wife Liz. He teaches a leadership class in Miami’s School of Education. He also does fundraising for the school and is writing a book on leadership.
As far as basketball goes, he’s just a fan now, following different programs. But the George Mason Final Four experience is always present.
In his home office, he has keepsakes from the 2006 season: The chair he sat in during the semifinal against Florida, which beat Mason 75-58 en route to winning the national title. He also has a poster that features all four teams.
Or he might run into someone with a Mason connection, as he did recently when he took a tour of the University of Miami’s Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science School. The school’s dean is a former Mason faculty member who was there when the Patriots went to the Final Four.
On Dec. 13, Larranaga will reunite with his team from that season when the school holds a 20th anniversary celebration (link added by FFXnow) at halftime of the Patriots’ 12:30 p.m. home game against Old Dominion.
He doesn’t stay in regular contact with those players, except for Skinn, who now is the Patriots’ head men’s basketball coach. But they remain a special group whom he’ll always remember.
“I loved every one of those guys,” Larranaga said.
This article was written by FFXnow’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
