Jay Larranaga will not be joining the college ranks.
The Boston Celtics assistant coach has removed his name from consideration for the vacant head-coaching position at George Mason University, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported Friday.
“George Mason had targeted Larranaga as one of its top candidates to replace the deposed Paul Hewitt,” Wojnarowski wrote, “but Larranaga will pass on the chance to meet with university officials, sources told Yahoo! Sports.”
Larranaga has deep ties to the Patriots — his father, Jim, coached the team from 1997 to 2011. The elder Larranaga led George Mason to its best season in school history in 2006, reaching the Final Four as a No. 11 seed before bowing out in the national semifinals.
Jay Larranaga, Brad Stevens’ top assistant in Boston, is committed to the Celtics organization and to one day pursuing a head-coaching job at the NBA level, per Wojnarowski. Stevens said earlier this week any college program “would be smart” to seek out the 39-year-old.
“He’s just a really good basketball guy,” Stevens said before Monday’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers. “He’s smart, he works really hard, he’s very positive. I’ve talked about our staff and how great they’ve been all year. Any of those guys would be good for opportunities like (the George Mason job). One of the things that I’m excited about is that I get to work with those guys every day, because I learn a lot more from them than they learn from me.”
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
