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| Jim Larranaga ’71 |
Billy Donovan ’87 |
Former PC men’s basketball players Billy Donovan ’87 and Jim Larranaga ’71 stirred the pride and nostalgia of their alma mater and Friar fans when they met as opposing head coaches in the Final Four of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament on April 1.
Donovan’s University of Florida team downed Larranaga’s Cinderella-like George Mason University quintet, 73-58, to advance to the NCAA Championship on April 3.
Donovan’s Gators then went one step further, defeating UCLA, 73-57, for the coach’s first national championship ever. Florida's ninth-year coach, Donovan, 40, is the second-youngest head coach to win an NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship, the youngest being Bobby Knight of Indiana at age 35.
How rare was it that two former Friars would meet as head coaches in the Final Four? According to Dr. Jeffrey T. Hoag, associate professor of mathematics at PC, the odds were approximately 1 in 30,000. CBS, which televised the entire NCAA Tournament, reported that it believed that Donovan and Larranaga were the second pair of head coaches from the same alma mater to meet in the national semifinals in 50 years.
During the Final Four pre-game show on April 1, CBS aired a taped interview by reporter Lesley Visser with Donovan and Larranaga. Each coach praised the other’s team and then Visser presented them, on air, with PC black-and-white basketball jerseys with their names and uniform numbers inscribed on them.
“Awesome, Lesley!” exclaimed Larranaga when he received the jersey.
Visser jokingly asked the coaches how much the jerseys would go for on e-Bay. Larranaga replied, “There’s no price I would give this up for.” Donovan chimed in, “I agree.”
At game time in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Ind., both coaches shook hands on the sidelines at midcourt and exchanged extended good wishes. At that point, CBS play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz intoned, “Both these coaches are from Providence College and in the Providence College Athletic Hall of Fame.”
The coaches’ alma mater fervently conveyed its pride and excitement over this unique, nationally showcased meeting. College President Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. ’80 penned a letter of congratulations to both coaches prior to the game and the College was responsible for providing the jerseys that CBS presented to Donovan and Larranaga.
Donovan and Larranaga played four and three years of varsity basketball, respectively. Each was a team captain in his senior year. Donovan totaled 1,328 career points and Larranaga scored 1,258 points, ranking them 15th and 18th, respectively, all-time at PC.