Just a feel good story!!!

For those of you that may not read the sports pages of the Oregonian, here's a feel good story.

Larranaga is a breath of fresh air
John Canzano
Friday, March 31, 2006
INDIANAPOLIS G eorge Mason University upset Connecticut, North Carolina, Wichita State and Michigan State to reach the Final Four, so naturally, coach Jim Larranaga's first news conference here began with a clinic on whistling.
What?
You expected he'd crawl under the table and bite his lip at the thought of facing Florida?
Well, apparently you don't know Larranaga, who is from the Bronx. He was here to set the record straight about the distinctive way he whistles to get the attention of his players during games.
"I've read some articles where some of my friends from the Bronx are taking credit for teaching me," he said Wednesday. "When I was reading that, I really had to crack up. I learned from my father when I was 4, 5 or 6 years old. He never whistled with his fingers or anything like that. He just learned how to whistle and taught me how to do it."
When Larranaga was a kid, his family lived in the bottom unit of a seven-story apartment complex known as Chester Park. His father was maniacal about safety, installing several alarm systems and drilling the family on procedures in the event of emergencies.
"(There were so many locks), it took forever to get in with your key," Larranaga said. "So when I got home from school, I would whistle to my mom to let her know I was home. It was a very distinct whistle. She would yell out of the window, 'Hi, Jim,' come and greet me at the door."
It's true that 11th-seed George Mason finds itself as America's newest sweetheart, but there's also something about Larranaga, who worked at Bowling Green for 11 years and was an assistant on the Ralph Sampson Virginia teams.
"One of my concerns when I came to George Mason was what kind of identity problem we would have," he said. "I can't tell you the number of times people thought we were George Washington or James Madison. A lot of times we get that James Mason or George Madison. It cracks me up because it's something we can't change."
Don't change, coach.
Not one bit.
Not even after some major-conference university hires you away next season, hands you more money, better facilities, a bigger recruiting budget and a larger office.
Don't change. Because right now, you're everything that is right about college basketball, right down to the way you want to talk about anything but basketball.
While the coaches from UCLA, Florida and Louisiana State spent their time discussing whether or not college basketball will ever see another undefeated champ (consensus: it won't), here was Larranaga discussing the Bill of Rights.
"George Mason was a statesman, the first governor of Virginia, and the gentleman who is responsible for the Bill of Rights," he said. "Also the university was an extension of the University of Virginia originally. It broke off from Virginia about 35 years ago and became George Mason University, a university that stood on its own.
"It has grown from a small commuter school . . ."
This went on and on, with Florida coach Billy Donovan paying careful attention from the peanut gallery. You half expected Larranaga would finish his informative discussion, dismount the podium and leave the room walking backward from giving so many proverbial campus tours this week.
There are great coaches and teachers at all levels of basketball. Not just the ones who do American Express commercials and coach at major universities.
That's the lesson you see in Larranaga. Most of the country didn't know who he was until his team caught lightning in a bottle in March.
So, well, yes. Who is Larranaga?
You find out he's 56, married to a woman named Liz, and has two children. And that he has a degree in economics from Providence, where he was a four-year letterman and team captain of the basketball team. And that he doesn't always recruit the biggest, most athletic player, but instead relies on advice from a sports-psychologist friend in choosing which player to pursue.
In this tournament, Larranaga used a zone defense effectively against North Carolina and Connecticut. Yet you learn that his team didn't play zone during the regular season, opting instead for Larranaga's trademark "Scramble" defense.
"We actually put in the same 1-2-2 zone that we used back in 1984 (at Virginia) the week between (our conference) tournament and the selection show," Larranaga said. "I told the guys, 'If we get in, we may need this.' "
His players said, "But coach, we're not a zone team."
Larranaga explained: "Yeah, but in the tournament, there are certain circumstances where we might want to use it."
And they did.
George Mason's wrecking ball through its bracket caused NCAA selection committee chair Craig Littlepage to joke, "Maybe we seeded them too low."
No, sir.
Everything about this has been perfect.
John Canzano: 503-294-5065; JohnCanzano@aol.com To read his Web log, go to www.oregonlive.com/canzano