Miami coach Jim Larranaga found some extra motivation on Sunday as his No. 10 seed Hurricanes prepared to take on No. 2 seed Auburn in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. While waiting for the Duke vs. Michigan State game to end so that his team could take the floor, Larranaga was watching TV coverage of other NCAA Tournament games. While doing so, he heard analyst Charles Barkley, an Auburn basketball legend, suggest that he might take his shirt off in celebration if the Tigers advanced to the Sweet 16 with a win over Miami.
Barkley’s suggestion came after Houston coach Kelvin Sampson was captured on video celebrating the Cougars’ win over Illinois without a shirt earlier in the day. Larranaga explained — in obviously lighthearted fashion — that fear over such a spectacle motivated Miami before its 79-61 upset victory over the Tigers,
“I was tuned into the games before us, and I listened to Charles Barkley tell the CBS crew that if Auburn won, he would take off his shirt. I thought to myself, ‘no one wants to see that, Chuck.’ So we did everything possible to make it possible that he wouldn’t have to do that.”
For his part, Barkley took it all in stride while responding to Larranaga’s comments. The Hurricanes are moving on to face No. 11 seed Iowa State in the Sweet 16 next week.
“This is all about Miami, man,” Barkley said. “I love my school. They had a good season … just a good season, not a great season. But they beat us today.”
