A championship plaque in one arm and an MVP trophy in another, Shane Larkin wormed his way to the stands behind the Miami bench, about the most difficulty he’d faced negotiating traffic all afternoon.
Over the railing, Miami’s quicksilver guard shared a hug and a word with his parents.
Barry Larkin, on most days the Baseball Hall of Fame shortstop but on this day just another proud father, told Shane he was proud of him and “not to make his mom cry.” As he pulled away from his father to walk back to the court and his teammates, Shane wiped tears from his eyes.
With the arrival of the NCAA tournament, it was a moment soon to be forgotten by most, but not by Miami and its fans and certainly not by the Larkins. In an arena that has been witness to decades of basketball greatness, Larkin made his contribution, leading the top-seeded Hurricanes Sunday to their first-ever ACC championship with an 87-77 defeat of No. 3 seed North Carolina. Their reward was the No. 2 seed in the East region.
“He’s phenomenal, he really is,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said.
Larkin was a no-brainer choice for tournament MVP – against the Tar Heels he shoveled in 28 points and added seven assists, five rebounds and two steals. With guard Durand Scott gutting out a back injury suffered in the game’s first minute and unable to contribute much, Larkin hit a career scoring high in addition to his usual direction of the Hurricanes offense.
“He just does whatever we need him to do,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. “He takes it upon himself to figure out what thing the team needs.”
As his son and his teammates celebrated the championship, Barry Larkin, wearing a black Miami t-shirt, recorded the scene on his phone. He made the “U” sign with his hands, raised his left index finger aloft when his son received the MVP trophy and held his teary-eyed wife Lisa tight.
“I’m Dad,” he said. “I’m just rooting as hard as I can, just like every other Cane fan.”
He, however, was the dad of the best player on the floor. North Carolina (24-10) was virtually unable to stay in front of him on the dribble. He shook defenders to drive to the basket for layups, penetrated for kick-out passes to jump shooters on the wing and exploited slivers of space to squeeze off 3-pointers.
UNC guard Marcus Paige said he had an idea of Larkin’s quickness, “but until you’re out there defending him, it’s just a different level of quickness.”
Larkin led the Hurricanes (27-6) out of a five-point hole in the second half, hitting a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one and then initiating a ball rotation that ended with guard Trey McKinney Jones splashing down another 3-pointer that gave the Hurricanes the lead for good with 6:27 to play.
In three tournament games, Larkin averaged 23.7 points, 10 above his season average, and five assists in leading the Hurricanes to the championship. He sat for four minutes total, playing all 40 Sunday. He was driven, he said, by criticism that Miami was on a down slope, having lost three of its last five before Greensboro.
“So a lot of people said we peaked too early, we weren’t going to have any chance in the (NCAA) tournament,” he said. “But we stayed together as a group and believed in ourselves and came out here and got three wins in a row against three very tough teams.”
