April 4, 2024

MIAMI’S JIM LARRANAGA RECIPIENT OF 2024 GENE BARTOW AWARD
Presented annually to a current or former coach for his contributions to the game.

PHOENIX, AZ – Miami’s Jim Larranaga is the recipient of the 2024 Gene Bartow award, which is presented annually to a current or former coach for his contributions to the game. It measures a coach’s win-loss record but also the impact he’s made on his players, school, and community.

Larranaga recently completed his 38th season as a Division I head coach, with stops at Bowling Green and George Mason and the past 13 years at Miami.

He’s been successful at every stop, leading George Mason to a miraculous run to the Final Four in 2011 and then guiding the Hurricanes to the first Final Four appearance in program history in 2023.

Larranaga has been a pillar in the Miami community since arriving there and his roots are spread throughout the game with several of his former assistants now Division I head coaches.

"Coach Larranaga is the true definition of a player’s coach," said Jamie Kachmarik, Executive member of CollegeInsider.com and Director of Athletics at St. Francis de Sales.  “His success on the court, which ranks him in the Top 10 winningest active DI coaches, is an unbelievable accomplishment but what is more impressive is how many lives he has impacted in a positive way throughout his coaching career.  His impact on others, plus the impact he has made at every university he has guided is immeasurable.  Coach Larranaga has given so much to the game, but most of all Coach Larranaga has been a great leader to so many individuals throughout his career."

The award is named in honor of a legendary coach who compiled a 647-353 record, and is one of only 17 coaches in division I college basketball history to take multiple teams to the Final Four.

In four seasons at Memphis State, Gene Bartow averaged over 20 wins per season and led the Tigers to the 1973 national title game.

After a one-year stint at Illinois, Bartow was given the unenviable task of following the legendary Coach John Wooden at UCLA. In his first season he guided the Bruins to the Final Four. After just two seasons in Westwood, Bartow left to literally start a new program at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB).

Seemingly unheard of today, Bartow built the program from scratch, and built it into a postseason regular. He won four Sun Belt tournament and three regular season titles during his 17 years at UAB, leading the program to a 350-193 record and seven consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

Coach Bartow passed away in 2012 at age 81, following a two-year battle with stomach cancer.

The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.