But in the 2014-15 season, Larranaga won’t be as fortunate.
Junior center Tonye Jekiri and sophomore guard Manu Lecomte are the only returning scholarship players from the 2013-14 team. Miami has nine newcomers, including three freshmen and three eligible transfers.
Larranaga said, with his past experienced teams, the players enter the season with a clear vision and only certain areas need to be tweaked. But this year, Larranaga expects growing pains.
“A team that brings in a handful of new players and has a couple of great freshmen, they may show that they have great talent,” Larranaga said. “But if you get into the NCAA Tournament and they don’t know anything about the opponent, they could be easily caught off guard and not play their best.”
Among the new crop of players is junior guard Sheldon McClellan who transferred from Texas. As a sophomore with the Longhorns during the 2012-13 season, McClellan put up 13.5 points per game and shot 83.3 percent from the free throw line.
For McClellan, sitting out last season was uncomfortable, but he said it gave him time to work on his game.
“It was very frustrating to see my teammates struggle on the court. Me and (Angel Rodriguez) wanted to be out there,” McClellan said. “But at that point, we were focusing on ourselves. I definitely got better in my year off — both offensively and defensively. So I looked at it as a positive.”
With its two leading scorers gone in guards Rion Brown and Garrius Adams, Miami will have to find a new source of offense. Returners Jekiri and Lecomte both averaged fewer than 10 points per game last season.
