Miami Hurricanes basketball head coach Jim Larranaga might have found himself in hot water after a grand jury subpoenaed the coach for texts, emails, and other items, Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times reported.
Miami coach Jim Larranaga received a grand jury subpoena for texts, emails and other items in the college hoops bribery and corruption case.
— Nathan Fenno (@nathanfenno) October 18, 2017
This is in relation to the ongoing investigation by the FBI of corruption and fraud in college basketball that has already led to the arrests of 10 basketball and business personalities last month.
While Larranaga hasn’t been pinpointed or linked overtly by investigators to any illegal activities, his being subpoenaed doesn’t bode well for his claim of innocence. The FBI appears to be on to something and might have sniffed some more evidence to ask further cooperation from Larranaga and his camp.
Miami is one of the schools that authorities have been keeping an eye on. Last Sep. 28, Miami president Julio Frenk even announced via Twitter that the Hurricanes basketball program was part of the said FBI investigation.
A message from President Frenk regarding University of Miami Athletics pic.twitter.com/EbD7RbFC8s
— University of Miami (@univmiami) September 27, 2017
Larranaga has no intention of treading the same path as Rick Pitino, who was fired from his head coaching job in Louisville this week for his involvement in a bribery scheme along with Adidas in the recruitment process of Cardinals freshman Brian Bowen. To that end, Larranaga’s attorney is working double time to clear the coach’s name.
"There's nothing there," one of Larranaga's attorneys said. "We're trying to get them to admit they made a mistake and move on."
— Nathan Fenno (@nathanfenno) October 18, 2017
Good luck with that.
With the rest of the college basketball scene put on relative notice by the FBI's probing, this story is forever developing. It will be interesting to see the fallout — whenever that actually happens — when this is all said and done.