LARRANAGA

PROVIDENCE — Jim Larranaga, a star guard at Providence College in the early 1970s, is in contact with Friar officials about the school’s vacant head-coaching position.

Larranaga did not return phone calls yesterday seeking comment on his interest in the job, but the current George Mason coach is free to speak with his alma mater.

“He was indeed contacted and we did give permission to talk to (Providence),” said Richard Coco, George Mason’s athletic department spokesman.

Coco also added that Larranaga was contacted two years ago, when an opening developed for the Seton Hall coaching position. “Jim said he wasn’t interested and didn’t speak with them,” Coco said.

PC athletic director Bob Driscoll has not made any statements about his search for a new coach and refused to discuss any specific candidates yesterday, but he has talked with Larranaga. It is unclear, however, whether Larranaga has been offered the PC job.

“It’s a bit premature for me to comment on any candidates other than to say that it’s going extremely well,” said Driscoll last night from the NCAA hockey tournament in Madison, Wis.

Larranaga just completed his 11th season at George Mason, where he is the school’s all-time leader in wins and in the history of the Colonial Athletic Conference. He’s led the Patriots to four NCAA Tournaments, including this year, when the team finished 23-11 and was knocked out in the first round by Notre Dame, 68-50.

His coming-out party came two years ago (2006), when the Patriots received a surprising at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament and proceeded to become one of the all-time great Cinderella stories in the history of the event. The Patriots finished the year with a 27-8 record and ranked eighth in the final coaches poll after NCAA wins over Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State and Connecticut. Mason’s historic run was ended in the Final Four by eventual national champion Florida.

That run elevated Larranaga’s stature at Mason, where some fans hope the school names its home court in his honor. He began his career as an assistant at Davidson College and then became a head coach at American International, in Springfield, Mass. He returned to Division I as an assistant at Virginia, where he helped coach All-American center Ralph Sampson and played in the Final Four in 1981 and ’84. In 1986, he became the head coach at Bowling Green, where he spent 11 seasons before jumping to George Mason in 1997.

Larranaga expressed interest in the vacant Providence position several times earlier in his career but was never a factor when the Friars chose to hire Rick Barnes (1988), Pete Gillen (1994) and Tim Welsh (1998).