Miami basketball flying by the power of the butterfly

Miami coach Jim Larranaga says that, just like his George Mason Final Four team, his Hurricanes are inspired by the togetherness of … butterflies?

When one thinks of a butterfly, the image of a team sticking together through thick and thin to reach a distant goal is hardly the image that comes to mind.

Flitting here and flapping there, not much about a butterfly’s movements screams “coherent.”

Yet Miami basketball coach Jim Larranaga is invoking the power of the butterfly and its manner of traveling together over long distances to motivate his Hurricanes squad.

It appears to be working. Larranaga had the players release some butterflies from atop the steps of the Bank United Center before going on the road and knocking off then-No. 8 Florida.

More from Mens Basketball

Miami was flitting in unison again this week, blasting No. 4 Duke by 16 points at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

According to the Miami Herald, Larranaga gave each player a hibernating orange and black butterfly, took them outside to wait for the warm weather to wake up the insects and then set them free.

That triggered a seven-game winning streak and a move into the top 15 in the polls.

After a couple of losses at home to unranked opponents, the Hurricanes are starting to roll again—taking No. 3 Virginia to double overtime before crushing Duke at its own house.

“It was definitely a different experience, kind of a random thing to do,” guard Angel Rodriguez said of the butterflies. “But I think it was great. I think everybody enjoyed it and, you know, every person believes in different things, whatever he believes in, I’m going to buy into it.

“You want to keep your coach happy and as long as we keep winning, the butterflies are going to make him feel good.”

Not exactly a glowing endorsement, but Larranaga will take it.

He did the same thing with his George Mason squad in 2004-05. The next season, the Patriots were the first mid-major in 26 years to crash the Final Four.

“When our players are George mason were being interviewed for the Final Four run, they talked about that,” Larranaga said. “They talked about, hey, our goal was to get to the Final Four … and we knew it was going to take us a while to get there, but like the butterflies, we were going to stick together and fly together.”

According to the U.S. Forest Service, monarch butterflies do, in fact, travel together over tremendous distances, with some flying as far as 3,000 miles south for the winter, using a combination of air currents and thermals to aid them in their travels.

So there is some science behind it. And apparently, there is also a method to coach Jim Larranaga’s madness.

Miami basketball flying by the power of the butterfly

By Phil Watson | Jan 17, 2015

Miami coach Jim Larranaga says that, just like his George Mason Final Four team, his Hurricanes are inspired by the togetherness of … butterflies?

More from FanSided