HOME AND AWAY JAY LARRANAGA: Gavin Cummiskeytalks to Ireland's player-coach who admits to some disappointment at not making it to the NBA but harbours no career regrets
BEING ONE degree of separation away from such respected figures as Bruce Arena and Dr Bob Rotella has certainly helped Jay Larranaga this past year; his family connections run deep into America’s sporting consciousness.
When discussing basketball with Ireland’s player-coach there is an inevitable digression into the epic career of his father, Jim Larranaga. The average Irish sports enthusiast would be unfamiliar with the name, but drop it into a conversation across the pond and the reaction is more often than not instant. Jim Larranaga has become an icon in US College basketball having captured the media and, as a result, the public’s imagination in 2006 when guiding the ultimate underdogs, George Mason Patriots, to the NCAA Final Four.
Jim Larranaga is a natural-born coach. On graduation from Providence College in 1971, with an economics degree, he was drafted into the NBA by the Detroit Pistons, but quickly took up an assistant coaching role at Davidson College.
A 30-year friendship with Rotella (psychologist to sports stars, including Pádraig Harrington) was initiated at the University of Virginia, but it was his record during an 11-year stint with the Bowling Green Falcons from 1986 to 1997 that saw him recruited by the Patriots.
Eldest of two sons, Jay played under his dad in the last four years at Bowling Green and along with current NBA veteran Antonio Daniels delivered a winning ’97 season in the Mid-American conference.
Thereafter, the father went to George Mason University, while the son delved into the murky, unforgiving European leagues. He has more than survived.
“It’s like the family business. Some families grow up on a farm. Their grandfather farmed, their father farmed so they farmed. I grew up around basketball. It’s what I know. I don’t know a lot of other things. My father and mother have been the biggest influence on my life.
“A lot of what I know about basketball on and off the court is stuff I’ve learnt from him. We’ve still got a close relationship.”
Jay Larranaga never made it into the NBA, but played at the highest level in Europe as well as being part of the Irish set-up since 2001 when coach Bill Dooley realised he held an Irish passport, due to his late grandfather Vincent Lynch from Cork (well, Vincent moved Stateside when he was five). Larranaga was made captain of a fine Irish panel that included former NBA players Pat Burke and Marty Conlon.
“Playing in the NBA was a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. For the first three years out of college I was playing in Europe, but I would always come back for summer try-outs. I was never quite good enough.
“I guess there is a little bit of regret that I wasn’t able to make the NBA, but there are millions of people who were not good enough. I feel pretty fortunate that I have been able to play professionally in Europe.”
The albeit brief, yet good, times in Irish basketball have since abated, but it’s a mark of the man’s loyalty that Larranaga returned last year to help guide the national team through a lull period that saw a solitary victory over Luxembourg.
That he continued playing, now 34, was actually down to current club Eldo Caserta (near Naples) insisting he returned in decent condition. Ideally, he would prefer to just coach in 2009.
“Now we are starting over again with a younger group like Conor Grace, Ian O’Boyle and Colin O’Reilly. I thought this time around Conor had a great run of games for us. He was a fine captain of the team. It was a really positive experience. You always want to win more and I think we could have. If we are able to add maybe one or two other players this year I think we definitely still have a chance.” A few Irish Americans around Europe can expect a call from Larranaga over the coming months.
Considering he intends to continue coaching, perhaps in Europe, he has to be careful when discussing the nomadic life in the continental leagues. “It’s different. You got to put up with not getting paid for a couple of months. You have to deal with some things, but at the end of the day if you get to play basketball for your job, you can’t really complain. I feel very fortunate. You always want to play as long as you can, but if my career ended tomorrow I would have no regrets.”
Back to Bruce Arena, the former US national soccer coach, now technically in charge of David Beckham at LA Galaxy, and the obvious parallel of US soccer to Irish basketball. “My father is good friends with Bruce Arena who is a huge figure in growing soccer in the United States.
“He called me after I got the job and gave me a lot of good advice about coaching a national team. He has been in some very tough situations so he knows you need a lot of people helping. You need support from the media. It is a slow process.”
And what of the Dr Rotella connection? “We try and reach out to people who are supportive of Irish basketball, Irish Americans. We had one of my assistant coaches Pat Price (known for his association with the Waterford hurlers) organise a golf outing in Cork when we were in camp.
“Bob Rotella has been friends with my dad for maybe 30 years, so I spoke to him after I got the job. He gave me Pádraig’s (Harrington) number. I called him and he was in Dublin at the time, I explained everything and he just said ‘Oh yeah, sure, If you could just come over today’. Every story you hear about what a nice guy he is is totally accurate. He gave us a whole bunch of autograph clubs and stuff to auction off.”
Next August, Sweden and Luxemburg come to Dublin with Slovakia and Georgia away. It’s the next stage of what has the potential to be a long coaching career.
Keeping up the family farming tradition, of course.
