Final Four matchup has a Rhode Island flavor. What is it?
When the Connecticut Huskies meet the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday night for the right to play in Monday's national championship game, there will be a Rhode Island storyline on the court at Houston's NRG Stadium.
UConn will be led by former URI coach Dan Hurley, who is in his fifth season at the helm in Storrs with perhaps the best team he's ever had. UConn is 13-2 in its last 15 games and enters the NCAA Final Four as the favorites to cut down the nets on Monday night. Hurley coached in Kingston for six seasons (113-82) and took the Rams to the NCAA Tournament in his final two seasons before moving on to Connecticut.
Miami is under the guidance of Jim Larrañaga, a standout point guard at Providence from 1968-71. He has been coaching the Hurricanes since the 2011-12 season. Before going to Florida, Larrañaga was on the sidelines at George Mason for 14 seasons — which happens to be where Providence's new basketball coach, Kim English, came from.
So how did Larrañaga and Hurley do in the annual Rhode Island vs. Providence battle for the state's bragging rights?
As a coach, Hurley went 1-5 vs. the Friars. Larrañaga played for Providence for three seasons, and in those years, Providence and Rhode Island faced off twice per season. As a Friar, Larrañaga faced the Rams six times, and his teams were 4-2 in that span.
The winner of the UConn-Miami game (Sat. 8:49 p.m.) will face the winner of the Florida Atlantic-San Diego State matchup (Sat., 6:09 p.m.) on Monday for the NCAA men's basketball championship.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: UConn vs. Miami in Final Four has a Providence vs. Rhode Island flavor
