Jim Larrañaga could handle—and repeatedly thrived—in the old college sports system, where athletes could only get paid under-the-table, even if that meant the Feds might subpoena his text messages. But the 75-year-old University of Miami head men’s basketball coach acknowledged this week that he didn’t have what it takes—at least not at this point in his career—to compete for talent in the unfolding open market.
This, despite the fact that Larrañaga’s 2022-23 national semifinalist team, led by Kansas State transfer Nijel Pack, became an early archetype for the new epoch of booster-funded NIL.
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