Don’t get me wrong, I love Miami coach Jim Larranaga. At 73, he has done a wonderful job coaching the Hurricanes and putting them in a position to winning their first national championship.
Miami played courageously during a 88-81 come from behind victory over Texas in the South Midwest Regional final at Kansas State
But the Canes were part of a growing narrative about pay for play this week after the program got a boost from a new source of revenue.
John Ruiz– the billionaire Miami booster and CEO of Life Wallet– is a new player in Miami sports and the reason the Canes need to be taken seriously in all sports going forward in this era of the Name, Image of Likeness. The guy in the Adidas sweatsuit and a pair of New Balance shoes was in the middle of the celebration he helped create, .
Ruiz hasn’t been shy about his efforts to turn Miami into the new colossus of the ACC. He offered to build a new football stadium on campus and has opened his wallet for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs.
Ruiz’ company gave Kansas State transfer guard Nijel Pack a two-year $800,000 NIL deal that includes use of a car last summer that made news. Isaiah Wong, Norchard Omier and Jordy Miller all have deals with him, too. Life Wallet also
has NIL deals with Haley and Hanna Cavinder, who transferred in from Fresno State and play for the Miami women’s team that reached the Elite Eight before losing to LSU.
It’s all legal.
Mostly.
Ruiz was recently involved in an NCAA investigation that looked into his relationship with the Cavinder twins, who arrived last spring and were steered by coaches to a meeting with Ruiz.
At any rate, Larranaga has been open about it and the fact this is going on throughout college sports. He just doesn’t understand why there is so much hush hush about it. “I think everybody should be transparent,” he said. “Why is it hidden behind the curtain. Why? You can go on a website and check out anybody’s salary in the NBA.
“There are a lot of schools that do the same thing we do. We just don’t know about it because it’s not public knowledge. Why not? Why are we afraid to share that information?” j
Larranaga said full disclosure is important for competitive reasons and also so the NCAA or Congress can have more information at their disposal when, and if , they bring clarity and uniformity to NIL rules.
Coach L is appreciative that athletes are finally getting money from the system.
“TV makes money, right?” he said. “The shoe companies make money. The universities make money. The athletic directors benefit from their relationship with shoe companies,” he said. “And the coaches are making a hellava living. Well,
What’s wrong with that filtering down?
“To me, that’s big-time athletics. I think the NCAA tournament is the best sporting event in the world and these guys should be rewarded for the great job they do, not only playing the game, but representing their schools.’
Aside from Pack, Wong has a $100,000 deal with Ruiz that is public knowledge. And the Cavinder twins apparently have made millions during their time at Fresno State and now Miami.
“I hope they get as many great deals as they can because I think eventually, they have to learn how to handle money,” Larranaga said. “So at their young age, if they learn it, maybe they will find out.I don’t know how many of these guys are spending every cent they get, but I know a lot of NBA did that and ended up bankrupt. I think it’s a learning process. That’s why you are in college anyway.’
Larranaga has heard all the concerns about NIL money leading to jealousy and friction in the locker room. “These guys have to get along on the court and off the court,” he said. “If you can’t handle that as a coach, you probably couldn’t
handle it when a guy was complaining about playing time or about not getting enough shots.’
Last summer, there was a report out of Miami that Wong, upon learning about Pack’s deal, threatened to transfer if his NIL wasn’t upgraded. Wong denies that and the chemistry on this team has been good.
“They hit if off day one,” Larranaga said. “Why because they love playing basketball.”
Miami looked like a team on a mission when they came out of their coma and made up a 13-point deficit quickly in the second half.
Miller, a transfer from George Mason, had a perfect night, shooting 7 for 7 and making 13 of 13 free throws for 27 points Pack finished with 15
. The Canes shot 59.2 percent as a team, making 5 of 7 during the comeback from the nine-minute mark to the five- minute mark when momentum shifted. When Wong hit back-to-back jumpers to send the Canes up 72-68, it was obvious Texas, which has controlled the game, was out of sync. The Canes finished off the game by making 13 of 14 free throws in the final five minutes.
