hoops06

Elite Eight matchup renews old bond

By wire services
Published March 26, 2006

WASHINGTON - Jim Calhoun says Jim Larranaga was a ball hog.

In the late 1960s, Larranaga, now the coach of George Mason, played for Providence; Calhoun, the Connecticut coach, was finishing his playing career at American International College in Springfield, Mass.

The two often played pickup basketball together.

Calhoun always preferred to play against Larranaga rather than with him.

"He didn't pass the ball much," Calhoun said Saturday as his No.1-seeded Huskies prepared to face Larranaga's No.11 Patriots in today's region final.

Larranaga, a New Yorker who attended Archbishop Molloy High, does not deny it.

"I taught my sons what I learned at a young age," he said, smiling. "You only shoot when you have the ball."

Calhoun said those pickup games nearly 40 years ago laid the foundation for a strong friendship. In 1977, Larranaga was hired at American International, his first job as college head coach. Calhoun was entering his sixth season as coach at Northeastern.

Larranaga struggled to find teams around Boston willing to play the Yellow Jackets. He called Calhoun and asked for a home-and-home series.

"He said, "Sure, we'll play you at Northeastern,"' Larranaga said. "Sounds familiar, right? And I said, "Come on, Jim. You're an AIC graduate; you have to come back and play at your alma mater. We stink; you're great."'

Calhoun relented and Northeastern won both games in the 1977-78 season. But the next season, Larranaga's Yellow Jackets grabbed an improbable split.

Now Larranaga hopes he can squeeze one more unlikely victory out of this friendly rivalry. And he continues to enjoy the party.

During a news conference, Patriots guard Tony Skinn was asked to name three universities he had considered during recruiting.

"George Mason, George Mason and George Mason," he said.

Larranaga leaned back, clapped and gave a belly laugh. Then he nudged the news conference moderator in the ribs, pointed at Skinn and shook his head in a get-a-load-of-this-guy way.

"He just has a unique ability to motivate people," George Mason athletic director Tom O'Connor said. "When the kids see what he tells them come to fruition, it's easy for them to embrace him and his style."

[Last modified March 26, 2006, 00:26:15]