Larranaga has Miami poised for NCAA run

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) - Miami President Donna Shalala calls this a "magical season'' for the men's basketball team.

To think it almost never happened.

When the Hurricanes were looking for a coach two years ago, many originally believed they would hire Frank Martin. And when Jim Larranaga interviewed for the job, he was convinced Tommy Amaker would be the next coach.

That might have been the last time Larranaga guessed wrong.

Miami won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament titles and is a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament, set to open on Friday against Pacific in Austin, Texas. Their rise has been a ray of light for a university dogged by scandal, and Larranaga might just have the Hurricanes ready to win the whole thing.