What Canes did after missing most basketball games in the nation. And Will Mallory news
The Miami Hurricanes men’s basketball team, which lost more games due to injury than any team in the country last season, has changed its head athletic trainer, according to a source.
Cory Kaplan, who filled that role for the past two seasons, has been replaced by Sam Johnson, who had that job at James Madison the past three years. Kaplan, coincidentally, recently took the same job at James Madison, succeeding Johnson.
The official title for Kaplan last season — and Johnson this season — is “assistant athletic trainer,” but that person is ostensibly the basketball program’s top trainer.
The change follows a season in which UM scholarship players lost 113 games to injuries — most of any Division 1 program.
Preseason All-ACC point guard Chris Lykes injured his ankle on Dec. 4 and never played again; he transferred to Arkansas after the season. Sam Waardenburg (foot) missed the entire season. Rodney Miller (back), Earl Timberlake (shoulder) and Harlond Beverly (back) missed considerable time.
Asked late last season if there may be an issue with the team’s training or strength and conditioning programs, Larranaga suggested that was not the problem and that it was simply bad luck.
“This is the second year in a row [with injuries], but this year was quite a bit different than any other season because we didn’t work out at all in April, May, June or most of July, so I don’t blame COVID, but there were some very freakish injuries, injuries I had never heard of before,” he said.
“Chris Lykes’ sprained ankle was very unusual because that is usually a couple of weeks or days and it turned out to be the whole season. We’ve had some very strange circumstances. Those guys were very frustrated by it. I was certainly disappointed that we didn’t have the team we recruited and didn’t play a single game at full strength.”
Larranaga emphasized during that March media session that “we went seven straight years of very, very good basketball here…It’s not me or what we do at practice. I’ve had teams where we had the same starting lineup every game of the season, same substitution pattern.”
Nevertheless, Larranaga decided to make a change with his trainer weeks later.
In Kaplan’s defense — beyond the bad luck dynamic, it’s worth noting that Timberlake arrived at UM with a pre-existing shoulder injury.
“I’m so grateful to the University of Miami for the last two years as a Hurricane,” Kaplan said. “It was truly a rewarding experience. That said, I’m excited for the next chapter in my career and wish everyone at the U nothing but success.”
THIS AND THAT
▪ UM’s Isaiah Wong and Kameron McGusty were not among 69 players invited to the NBA’s predraft camp in Chicago.
With only 60 players drafted every year, Larranaga has suggested that the chances of both players returning to UM are obviously better if they’re not invited to the predraft camp.
The NCAA says players who have declared for the draft but not hired an agent (such as Wong and McGusty) must withdraw by July 7 to retain college basketball eligibility.
The Canes would have a far better roster if both players return. Wong averaged 17.1 points and 4.8 rebounds in a breakout 2020-21 season. McGusty averaged 13.3 points and 1.3 steals.
▪ UM tight end Will Mallory, who missed spring football with a shoulder injury, said on WQAM’s Hurricane Hotline that he’s now fine.
“The shoulder’s doing good,” he said. “I’m basically full go now. I missed being out with the guys in the spring, but I feel good now. We’re getting after it in summer workouts now.”
Mallory, who replaces Houston Texans-bound Brevin Jordan as UM’s starting tight end, said he feels the responsibility to carry on the legacy of great UM tight ends.
“Growing up around guys like Jeremy Shockey and Jimmy Graham and Greg Olsen,... there’s a responsibility,” he said. “We take pride in that.... I love it. It’s exactly why I came here, for that tradition and live up to that expectation.
“With Brevin gone and me being the No. 1 tight end, I want to make plays for the team, be that guy [quarterback] D’Eriq [King] can rely on and not disappear in some quarters and finish the whole game so I can help the team win.”
▪ Mallory mentioned Larry Hodges has been in the tight end room, which confirms he’s still on the team after his offseason arrest on charges that the state decided not to prosecute. Hodges was excluded from practice and the spring game because of those charges.
Mallory mentioned that freshman tight end Elijah Arroyo “is already 250; it took me about three years to get to that. I’m very impressed by him.” Arroyo missed much of spring ball with a knee injury.
▪ Alabama coach Nick Saban recently said that his team is close to being 75 percent vaccinated in advance of the Crimson Tide’s Sept. 4 opener against UM.
We hear the Hurricanes are also still working to get to that threshold.
Athletic director Blake James said he hasn’t been updated on UM’s percentage “at this point, but we are encouraging all of our students to get vaccinated. Manny [Diaz] is also encouraging his team to get vaccinated.”
This story was originally published June 16, 2021 at 10:11 AM.
