Calling it the “most difficult decision” he’s had to make, University of Miami sophomore Shane Larkin announced Sunday that he is skipping his final two seasons to enter the NBA draft.
A teary-eyed Larkin made his announcement in the media room of the BankUnited Center, where the 5-foot-11 point guard led the Hurricanes last season to some of the biggest moments in the basketball program’s history.
“I’ve probably gone back and forth on this 100 times just because I love the university so much,” Larkin said.
Larkin was told by an NBA advisory committee that he will be a late first-round or early second-round pick. He said the gruesome leg injury sustained by Louisville’s Kevin Ware during the NCAA tournament caused him to weigh his decision heavily.
“If I did come back and something horrific happened, would I be able to live with myself?” Larkin said.
Asked what advice his father Barry Larkin, the baseball Hall of Famer, had for him, Shane said: “Either be 10 toes in or 10 toes out.”
With Larkin departing, UM is losing its entire starting lineup and top six scorers from the most successful team in school history.
Larkin’s rise to a potential No. 1 draft pick has been meteoric.
A three-star prospect out of Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Larkin was deemed by some to be too frail at 160 pounds to survive the college game. Jim Larranaga — who then was the coach at George Mason before he took over in that role at Miami — extended Larkin his first scholarship offer.
Larkin, who signed with DePaul but transferred to Miami for family hardship reasons, enjoyed a solid first season with the Hurricanes, making the conference’s all-freshmen team.
But no one expected Larkin’s burst onto the scene as a sophomore. Larkin averaged 14.5 points with 4.6 assists and was named the ACC’s player of the year by the league’s coaches after leading UM to several historic firsts: a victory over No. 1 Duke, a program-best No. 2 Associated Press ranking, and ACC regular-season and tournament championships.
In the ACC tournament, Larkin was a one-man wrecking crew. He shot 51.1 percent, averaged 23.7 points and five assists, and scored a game-high 28 points against North Carolina in Miami’s championship game victory.
In the NCAA tournament second-round game against Illinois, Larkin endured an off-night before sinking a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:04 left to advance the No. 2-seeded Hurricanes to the Sweet 16 for the second time in school history.
UM has produced 18 NBA draft picks in program history, including three first-rounders (Rick Barry, 1965; Tim James, 1999; John Salmons, 2002).
“At the beginning of this season, I didn’t think I would be in this position,” Larkin said.
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