UM rewards Jim Larrañaga with contract extension, new deal in the works for Katie Meier

The University of Miami and men’s basketball coach Jim Larrañaga have agreed to a one-year contract extension that will take him through the 2026-27 season, Director of Athletics Dan Radakovich announced Tuesday.

The Miami Herald reported last month that UM was working on new contracts for Larrañaga, who led UM to its first Final Four, and women’s basketball coach Katie Meier, who led the Hurricanes to their first Elite Eight. No other school in the nation had both teams in the Elite Eight. A university source confirmed that an extension is being finalized with Meier and will be announced later.

“Jim led our program on a remarkable run to its first Final Four this year and we are looking forward to many more seasons of success with Jim in charge,” Radakovich said.

Larrañaga, the winningest men’s coach in UM history, recently completed his 12th year at the school. In addition to the first Final Four, UM shared the ACC regular season title and tied a school record with 29 wins. The team ranked third in the final USA TODAY Coaches Poll

Terms of Larrañaga’s contract were not released. A Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame nominee, he made $2.562 million this year, according to the USA Today coaches’ salary database, which ranked eighth among ACC coaches and 48th among Division 1 coaches.

Tony Bennett of Virginia led ACC coaches at $4.83 million, followed by Jeff Capel of Pittsburgh ($3.61 million), Kenny Payne of Louisville ($3.49 million), Kevin Keatts of N.C. State ($2.8 million), Brad Brownell of Clemson ($2.77 million), Josh Pastner of Georgia Tech ($2.6 million), and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse ($2.58 million). The salaries of Jon Scheyer (Duke) and Earl Grant (Boston College) were not published.

“I love coaching at The U. This is an incredible academic institution with a Blue Ribbon faculty,” said Larrañaga, 73, a recent UM Sports Hall of Fame inductee. “I am grateful to have tremendous support from our administration. I want to thank President (Julio) Frenk, Joe Echevarria, Rudy Fernandez and Dan Radakovich for their confidence in me. I am excited to continue working with the outstanding young men in our program. We enjoyed our run this year and look forward to making more history in the future.”

Larrañaga has led Miami to all five of its 25-win years, four of its five Sweet 16s, both of its Elite Eight trips, its first Final Four, both of its ACC regular season titles and its first ACC Tournament title. His program has also posted a perfect NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) each of the past five years.

Under Meier’s direction, the Hurricanes have made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances and reached the ACC Tournament final.

Meier, 55, was co-recipient of the 2013 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year award following a 9-0 record and gold medal at the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship and was inducted into the UM Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. In 2011, she was named the Associated Press National Coach of the Year – sharing the award with Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma and Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer.