Miami Basketball Coach Jim Larranaga talks Adidas, UVA, Jekiri, & Angel

Miami head Coach Jim Larranaga is as honest a coach as you will find anywhere.

So when he chimed in on today's decision by UM to switch from Nike to Adidas, it was worth a listen:

“If you go back 30 years, it was an individual coach who had an endorsement contract, in care of an advisory staff, and worked with a shoe company,Now those same shoe companies are working with athletic departments. They’re working with AAU programs. They’re working with high school programs. They’ve really tried to brand themselves from a grassroots network and up. So, there are kids who feel very, very closely associated with a certain shoe company because that’s the shoe they’ve been wearing throughout their high school and AAU seasons. So it does become a factor in recruiting, but I think the major factor in recruiting is being sure a young man knows the quality of your program. If you have a quality product, you’ll be able to recruit quality student-athletes."

More on that change HERE.

Of course coming off a thrilling but disappointing double OT loss to UVA on Saturday there was hoops to speak of as well.

In non apparel related news:

• Larranaga called the double OT loss to Virginia, "quite a battle" and said his team "needed to put it behind us."  He also said that the team needed to better execute their game plan. But that Miami did the things they planned on doing in the second half of the game, but that they needed to do a better job on the little things. He also called it a "very painful" loss but felt it could be a motivating factor for the team.

• I asked Coach L if he would switch Miami's starting line-up to the unit (Deandre Burnett ahead of Manu Lecomte, & Omar Sherman ahead of Joe Thomas) that effectively brought them back in the 2nd half Vs UVA and he would not commit to it.  Instead Coach L explained that the change was needed because they needed more scoring punch Vs the Hoos and that his staff would evaluate what was needed Vs Boston College before deciding.

• About Tonye Jekiri, "First of all we are so short-handed in the front court, and with that responsibility comes a lot of lane time.  It has helped him to know he is going to play a lot and there is a certain expectation.  We've asked him to average a double-double and he has gotten close to that.  We are going to have Ivan Uceda join us and he's 6'10.  That will a chance to get some decent rest, and hopefully he can be more productive in 25 minutes of playing time than over 30."

• On Angel Rodriguez, "One of the things about Angel, he is a supremely confident player. He has the ability to make long range threes. He got off earlier in the season and made a bunch. He made a bunch against Florida.  I think it has given him confidence to take them more frequently. The other thing though is that when he does drive, we've asked him to get other players involved a little more.  Because of our success 3 point shooting, the opponent has now focused in on our three point shooters and let him go to the basket and just challenge at the end. I think he just has to make good decisions whether to shoot the three, drive to the basket and pass, or drive to the basket and score.