Jay Larranaga
American basketball coach and former player.
Last updated
Jay Larranaga, an American professional basketball coach and former player, currently serves on the staff of the Los Angeles Clippers. He previously worked as the top assistant coach for the Boston Celtics.
Born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on January 30, 1975, he is the son of University of Miami men's basketball coach Jim Larrañaga. Larranaga played college basketball at Bowling Green State University under his father, setting school records for three-point field goals in a game, season, and career. He then enjoyed a lengthy playing career across Europe before moving into coaching, eventually becoming a top candidate for several head coaching positions.
Career
Jay Larranaga played college basketball for the Bowling Green Falcons alongside Antonio Daniels, spending all four years under his father, Jim. He set BGSU records for three-point field goals in a game, season, and career, and became a three-time Academic All-MAC selection with a cumulative 3.4 GPA in business. After college, he played in Italy before joining Peristeri B.C. in Greece for the 1998–99 season. He then moved to France to play for ASVEL Villeurbanne, winning the 2000 French All-Star game.
In November 2000, he moved back to Italy to join Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, then returned to France for Paris Basket Racing. His career continued in Spain with CB Gran Canaria and CSF Sevilla, then back to Italy for Pallacanestro Virtus Roma and his former club Viola Reggio Calabria. In 2004, he joined Real Madrid Baloncesto, winning the Spanish National Championship. He won the Italian National Cup with Basket Napoli in 2006 and 2008.
Larranaga retired after two seasons with Eldo Caserta, having appeared in various All-Star games. In 2008, he was announced as player/manager of the Ireland team, having previously served as captain of the Irish national team from 2001 to 2006.
Coaching career
Jay Larranaga entered his first season as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics in 2012. He spent the previous two seasons as head coach of the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League, leading them to consecutive playoff appearances with a 60–40 regular-season record. He set team records for all-time wins (60), wins in a season (32), and player call-ups (12), with eight different players receiving NBA call-ups during his tenure. Prior to Erie, he served as an assistant coach at Cornell University and was head coach of the Irish National Team for two years.
In the summer of 2012, he worked as an assistant for the Ukraine National Team under Mike Fratello. In 2013, the Celtics interviewed Larranaga to possibly replace Doc Rivers, but Brad Stevens became the new head coach.
Over the next three seasons, the coaching staff led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Playoffs, including a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2016–2017 season. Larranaga was a top candidate for head coaching positions at Georgia Tech and George Mason University but decided to stay with the Celtics. In July 2021, he was hired as an assistant coach under Tyronn Lue with the Los Angeles Clippers.
More in Paris Racing Basket Players
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Jay Larranaga (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced