Here is what the Hurricanes said as they headed to South Carolina for NCAA Tournament
There was a festive atmosphere around the Watsco Center on Wednesday as the University of Miami men’s and women’s basketball teams packed up and headed to South Carolina for their opening games of the NCAA Tournament.
The eighth-seeded women are playing at 11:30 a.m. Friday in Columbia against No. 10 seed University of South Florida and the 10th-seeded men play at 3:10 p.m. Friday in Greenville against No. 7 seed Southern California.
Miami is one of four ACC schools and one of 24 in the nation with both the men’s and women’s teams in the NCAA Tournament.
Just over 100 miles separates the two venues, so diehard Hurricanes fans can make both games if they don’t make any pit stops. And the baseball team plays that night at 6 in Clemson for those who want to attempt the trifecta.
UM men’s coach Jim Larranaga, who led the Hurricanes to Sweet 16s in 2013 and 2016, was giddy as his players grabbed their Chick-fil-A box lunches and boarded the bus to the airport. At the end of their final practice, the coach urged the players to be “as accessible as possible” to the media, reminding them that the NCAA Tournament gets national media coverage, and he wants Miami to be well-represented.
The team was due to arrive in Greenville around dinner time and they planned to have a group meal at Ruth Chris Steakhouse.
“I just told the team, ‘I’m going to have a blast. This is the most fun you’ll ever have,’ ’’ said Larranaga, whose 2006 George Mason team made the Final Four. “All the pressure to get to the NCAA Tournament is that marathon, the grind. But once you get here you’ve got to enjoy the greatest sporting event. There’s nothing like March Madness. It lasts three weeks and every game is a blast.”
He said getting in was the team’s first goal, and now they have their eyes set on the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four and the national title. “That’s every kid’s and every coach’s dream long before the season even starts.”
For 11 of 14 players on the UM women’s team, this will be a new experience.
“This is my first March Madness and, with the excitement around it, I’m ready to get on the court and compete in the biggest tournament in college basketball,” senior Karla Erjavec said.
It is the first trip to the tournament for several men’s players, too, as the team last qualified in 2018. Anthony Walker, a Baltimore native, said he remembers watching Maryland and UCLA, his two favorite teams, on TV during March Madness and now it is his turn.
“Super excited, we’re just hoping to bring our good energy from Miami to South Carolina,” Walker said. “The message from the coaches has been to embrace the moment. As players we get too caught up in the winning and losing and now that we’ve made the tournament we want to do well and have fun.”
The Canes will face a Trojans team that one of the tallest teams in the nation with seven players 6-9 or taller. They are good rebounders, so the undersized UM team will have to compensate for its lack of height by forcing turnovers and crashing the boards. USC is coached by Andy Enfield, who got his start as a Florida State assistant and made a national name for himself taking Florida Gulf Coast University to the Sweet 16 in 2013.
“USC is gigantic, they’re 2-guard is 6-9 and can play the point, they’re a handful for us,” Larranaga said. “But we’re also a handful for them. We’ll toss it up at 3:10 on Friday and see who plays better.”
Larranaga’s advice to his players as they hit the road was to try to visualize themselves playing great and winning.
His message: “When you lay your head on the pillow at night, you’ve got to see yourself playing great defense or rebounding or making shots because if you can’t see it, it’s hard to make it a reality.”
This story was originally published March 16, 2022 at 5:53 PM.