Podcast: Dissecting AD Blake James’ ACC Network interview. And Miami basketball optimism?
It has been more than a week since the Miami Hurricanes added another ugly loss by going down against the Virginia Cavaliers on Oct. 1, and Manny Diaz is still the coach and Blake James is still the athletic director.
It’s not a surprise. Both are on the hot seat, but Miami isn’t ready to move on from either just yet. Instead, there’s a lot of talk about “alignment” as the Hurricanes try to get on track for the second half of the season.
James echoed the same line as president Julio Frenk on Thursday, when the AD made his first public comments of the 2021 season in an interview with the ACC Network. After weeks of ducking the Miami Herald, James found a place to answer some softballs, and David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Herald’s Hurricanes beat writer, take the opportunity to overanalyze what he had to say — or, more specifically, didn’t say — as he finds himself on the hot seat.
The second half of the episode is a little more optimistic, though. It’s almost time for college basketball season and Miami’s roster is its best in years. Michelle Kaufman, the Herald’s Hurricanes beat writer, joins Wilson to do an early preview of the upcoming season.
Training camp began last week and the first exhibition game is less than two weeks away, and the Hurricanes actually look like they have a dozen legitimate players, plus a potential star in guard Isaiah Wong.
It’s a pivotal season for coach Jim Larranaga, too, after three straight injury-plagued losing seasons. With the entire athletic department facing a reckoning, Larranaga and Co. will be under scrutiny, too, and there are real reasons to think they can stand up to it.
As always, please continue to rate, review and subscribe, as we take you through the second half of football season and beyond.
