Alumnus Larranaga Eyed As Next Friars Coach

Providence, RI (AHN) - Current George Mason coach Jim Larranaga is being offered the top basketball head duty by Providence, where the 58-year-old finished his studies in 1971 and led the team in scoring during his sophomore and junior years.

Larranaga, whose decision on whether to accept the Friars job or stay with the Patriots will come on Tuesday, has become a household name with George Mason following the club's instrumental run to the Final Four in 2006. The Patriots lost to eventual national champion Florida but not before stunning heavyweights Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State and Connecticut.

This season, Larranaga steered the Patriots to another NCAA tournament stint but lost in the first round to Notre Dame 68-50 in the East regional phase. They also won the Colonial Athletic Association conference for the third time in the last 10 years and finished the regular season with a 23-11 overall record and 12-6 mark in conference play.

Providence, meanwhile, wound up with a 15-16 overall mark and 6-12 record in the Big East. The Friars are shopping for a new coach to replace Tim Welsh and no other candidate could be best suited for the post than Larranaga, who led the Friars with 19.4 points a game as a sophomore and 16.3 points during his third year.

"I have great memories of my college days at Providence College. I enjoyed the experience of playing with some outstanding players like Ernie DiGregorio," the coach said during the 2006 NCAA tournament. "I also played for two legendary coaches - Joe Mullaney, who taught me an awful lot about the game of basketball from a coach's point of view, and coach (Dave) Gavitt, who really not only taught me a lot about the game of basketball, but about the business of basketball, the life of basketball, the role of a coach."