George Mason has granted permission to basketball coach Jim Larranaga to speak with the University of Miami (Fla.) about its head-coaching vacancy, the school confirmed to USA TODAY.  George Mason spokeswoman Maureen Nasser said that athletics director Tom O'Connor gave Larranaga permission to talk to the Hurricanes, who are looking for a replacement for Frank Haith.  Haith took the coaching job at Missouri several weeks ago after Mike Anderson left the Tigers for Arkansas.  Lenn Robbins of the New York Post reported that Larranaga scheduled a meeting with his team Thursday night. A source said that it's "a strong sign he is leaving to take the head coaching job at Miami." There's no word on the topic, but many meetings in such situations is to alert the team of a potential move.  Larranaga, 61, has spent 14 years at George Mason and took the Patriots on a surprising run the Final Four in 2006. He is the school and the Colonial Athletic Association's all-time wins leader.  Larranaga is currently under contract with George Mason through the 2014-15 season, a contract extension he signed after interviewing at his alma mater, Providence, after the 2008 season.  He made $525,000 at George Mason this year.  This season, the Patriots won the CAA's regular season title and earned an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament, where they lost to overall No. 1 seed Ohio State in the second round.  USA TODAY's Erik Brady contributed to this report.  See photos of: Miami Hurricanes  To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor  . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to  . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to
George Mason allows Jim Larranaga to talk to Miami (Fla.) - Campus Rivalry: College Football & Basketball News, Recruiting, Game Picks, and More - USATODAY.com