How good was Shane Larkin for the Hurricanes?

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An interesting trivia about former Hurricanes star Shane Larkin was that his first love was baseball. He was primed to excel in the sport, having joined a coach-pitch league at the tender age of seven. But his coach didn’t like his swing, and the young Shane didn’t understand. It was enough to shift his focus to another game, one he felt he could dominate, sans a coach who didn’t approve of his posture. 

By 2009, with future Canes coach Jim Larrañaga watching curiously in the sidelines, the then-committed, young basketball player stole a pass from a three-man fast break, which he was the only guy left to defend. The fiery coach immediately saw a bright future for the 5’11 guard with great basketball smarts. Pretty soon, he was offering Larkin a scholarship at George Mason University.

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Things didn’t pan out for the young Larkin, who wanted to go to a school closer to home. How convenient then that Larrañaga—the guy who first saw his potential and in whom Larkin had complete trust—had just been named new coach of the Miami Hurricanes. The rest is Canes basketball history.

Shane was already an elite point guard when he entered the Canes program in 2011. And by 2013, he had already led Miami to the top of the ACC, a clutch player who can make shots almost at will and a solid defender too, reminiscent to many of the NBA’s Chris Paul. That regular season, he averaged 13 points, four assists, and four rebounds. He would go on to be picked 18th by the Atlanta Hawks in the same year’s NBA draft and will be remembered as one of the best ball handlers the Canes program has ever seen.

Patrick Dwyer, a financial advisor, supports the medical organization Neuroscience Centers of Florida Foundation, Inc. (NSCFF) in its advocacy of putting an end to chronic neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and multiple sclerosis. He also avidly follows the Miami Hurricanes. For similar reads, visit this blog.

Best running back duos who ever wore the Miami Hurricanes Uniform

In American football, gaining yards is everything.  That’s why there are positions that are filled in solely to advance farther into the field.  And while there’s great hype about wide receivers, there’s still a great deal of attention when it comes to running back duos.  And the great Miami Hurricanes has had some of the best RB duos in college football history.  Here are some of the Canes’ best running back duos in history.

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Alonzo Highsmith and Melvin Bratton

During the mid-80s, Bratton and Highsmith provided an explosive offense for the Hurricanes and are considered two of the finest running backs in the university’s history.  During the 1983 championship season, Highsmith had a record of reaching almost 2,000 yards and completed 25 touchdowns in four years.  Bratton, on the other hand, showed his backfield versatility, running close to 2,400 yards and helping Miami win the national championship in 1987.  The two working together resulted in an 11-1 season in 1986.

James Jackson and Clinton Porti

Jackson was known for his rushing prowess with almost 3,000 yards to his name.  And while he was already sensational on his own, it was his tandem with Portis in 2001 that helped the team capture its fifth title.  2000 was their highlight season as both made a combined 1,500 yards rushing and in the receiving end.

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Javarris James and Graig Cooper

Though the Cane’s run in the mid to late 2000s wasn’t that spectacular, James and Cooper performed brilliantly and consistently.  From 2007 to 2009, the duo rushed 3,500 years combined. 

Patrick Dwyer is a financial advisor and avid supporter of the Neuroscience Centers of Florida Foundation, Inc. (NSCFF). He is also a huge fan of the Miami Hurricanes basketball and football teams. For similar reads, click here.  

The Mark Richt Football Camp: An Introduction

The Mark Richt Football Camp, LLC takes place at the home of the Miami Hurricanes in Coral Gables, Florida, with the objective of teaching the fundamentals and skills of the game. Here, the Miami coaching staff – led by Coach Mark Richt – will get assistance from current student-athletes as well as other university and college divisions coaches to instill and harness the love for the game among young participants.

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Lending prestige to this summer football camp is the unique opportunity to work with some of the best teachers that football has to offer young enthusiasts. With a 12:1 student to teacher ratio, every participant gets the chance to excel while getting to know other classmates along with professors. The training will be centrally located at the Schwartz Center for Athletic Excellence and the Greentree Practice Fields, a 34,oo0-sq.ft.-facility that serves as the ‘Canes training facility.

The 2018 football camp recently wrapped up with four sessions on campus last June. The June 13 session focused on five-year-olds through rising 6th graders, with a $20 per camper cost that included a Mark Richt Football Camp t-shirt and lunch. The June 14 to 16 sessions targeted rising 7th and 8th graders, 9th and 10th graders, and 11th and 12th graders, with a $60 cost that included an Adidas TechFit shirt and lunch.

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It’s not just the best value in training on campus where the 5-time national champions reside and thrive, but the singular prestige of learning with the best and most celebrated coaches and teachers.

Patrick Dwyer, a financial advisor, actively supports the Neuroscience Centers of Florida Foundation, Inc. (NSCFF) in its quest to develop treatments for various neurological diseases. He is a huge fan of the Miami Hurricanes football team and the sport in general. For similar reads, click here.

Remember To Visit These National Parks When Heading East

National parks are great weekend escapes for city dwellers, travel enthusiasts, and students who are ready to explore the wild.  Almost all the national parks in the United States are worth visiting.  Yet for visitors who are heading to the East, here are three of the national parks they can explore and enjoy.

Congaree National Park

The Congaree National Park is located in South Carolina and is the largest hardwood forest that survives—to this day—in the eastern periphery of the United States.  The perpetual flooding in the area results in more than bald Cypress trees and Spanish moss, which makes it perfect for birds and wildlife spotting.  The park, set in an area of 22,000 acres, is a home for otters, alligators, bobcats, deer, and a vast variety of birds.  It offers great access to hikers down the 7km long Western Lake Loop Trail.  The Kingsnake Trail, which is 19k long, is heaven for sighting birds.

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Everglades National Park

Astoundingly huge at 1.5million acres, the Everglades National Park is the largest sub-tropical chunk of wilderness in the whole of United States.  It is a huge reserve that consists of mangroves and sawgrass.  Visitors can move around in small boats through small channels.  Walls of high grass tower on either side.

Acadia National Park

Acadia is the first and premier national park of the East and is the most dramatic one that Maine has in store for its tourists.  Cadillac Mountain and Bar Harbor offer different attractions, yet are equally astonishing.  However, the Otter Cliff is considered the main attraction, standing at 34m high, making it a headland tallest than any north of Rio.

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Dywer and Associates works on preserving and restoring natural habitats by supporting the further expansion of the country’s national park system. For more posts like this, click here.

Interesting Basketball Trivia For The Sports Junkie

It’s every man’s sport, and if this doesn’t hold true then basketball remains an athletic pursuit of unparalleled popularity and mass appeal. Here are some interesting basketball facts and trivia, especially for fellow huge supporters of Miami teams like the Miami Hurricanes.

History and rules

Basketball was invented by Canadian James Naismith, who also was a P.E. teacher from Springfield, Massachusetts. It was borne out of the desire to keep his gym class busy while it was raining outside. Originally, two teams made up of nine players played the game – a number anchored on the standard number of players on a baseball team. Obviously, the teams were later reduced to having five players each.

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Basketball superstars

Michael Jordan had a so-called “love of the game” clause in his contract, and this effectively allowed him to play basketball against anyone, anytime, and practically anywhere. Tim Duncan, on the other hand, grew up in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he was preparing for the 1992 Olympics as a competitive swimmer, until a hurricane destroyed the only Olympic-sized pool on the island. He was left with the option to swim in the ocean, but there was one problem: he was afraid of sharks.

Historic brawls

The Pacers-Piston game on Nov. 19, 2004 marked the most infamous fight that broke out in the NBA. It involved a massive brawl among players and spectators, where the league suspended nine players and had to deal with $11 million in lost earnings. Five fans, on the other hand, were slapped with criminal charges and were banned from Piston home games forever.

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Patrick Dwyer, a financial advisor, encourages everyone to give the Neuroscience Centers of Florida Foundation, Inc. (NSCFF) continued support because it is working on key research to improve the diagnosis, management, and treatment options for these illnesses. He is a huge fan of the Miami Hurricanes basketball team. Learn more about great American sports on this page.

A Review: Miami Hurricanes 2017-18 Basketball Season

The 2017-18 basketball season for the Miami Hurricanes is marked by a first-round NCAA Tournament exit, despite the coaching staff and team braving the odds, injuries, and many distractions during the journey. But it’s not one without valuable lessons to bring into the seasons they will face.

The team came into the season as number 12 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, as well as number 13 in the Associated Press Top 25. They leveraged on a weak non-conference schedule and gallantly worked their way to a 10-0 start to the season. Part of the winning streak is an 86-81 win they had on the road against Minnesota during the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. UM also manage to clobber Pittsburgh at home as well as Virginia Tech on the road in January.

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Add this to the fact that there trudged along with a limited Lonnie Walker IV, the freshman who was still working his way back into the game after an offseason knee surgery.

The season may not have emerged with the ideal results, but it’s another teaching moment for head coach Jim Larrañaga and his staff in their unyielding quest to build a winning program. For one, it enjoyed significant contributions from the freshman squad of Bruce Brown Jr., DJ Vasiljevic, and Dewan Huell, as well as an exciting game element in the form of point guard Chris Lykes.

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Amid the spirit of resiliency, UM has to grapple with a number of negatives from the season, such as its spate of injuries, inconsistent shooting, recruiting shortcomings, and underperforming for much of the season.

Patrick Dwyer is a financial advisor and avid supporter of the Neuroscience Centers of Florida Foundation, Inc. (NSCFF). He is also a huge fan of the Miami Hurricanes basketball and football teams. Similar reads on this page.

Great National Parks In The U.S. To Visit With Your Kids

While many parks and reserves in the U.S. are great for the family, not all of them are child-friendly, especially those that are riddled with difficult and steep trails. Listed below are some of the best parks to visit for that bonding with your kids and with nature.

Arches National Park

What makes this Utah park most alluring for family visits is that it’s very accessible. Kids will not complain about the distance of the trails much, as the 36-mile loop will already have visitors witnessing the park’s main sights. Kids will love the numerous sandstone arch formations that look like spires and domes, especially since some of them are climbable. Make sure to visit Delicate Arch, the most-photographed monolith jutting out at the corner of a cliff like the feet of a giant or a portal to some magical place.

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Yellowstone National Park

This famed park is more than just Old Faithful. Kids will love seeing the geyser for sure, as well as the wildlife of bison and wolves, but the park has many programs in place specifically catering to kids, from studying the site’s thermal features while playing with laser guns to tracking earthworms. There’s plenty to do here to keep the kids happy and occupied when the excitement about the scenery has passed.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

This is the perfect place to bring the children to witness swarms of fireflies as well as 30 species of salamanders. The 500,000-acre park that straddles North Carolina and Tennessee offers ranger- or naturalist-guided training for kids who want to get closer to the various species of amphibians, reptiles, and mammals that call the reserve their home. You can enroll the children in the Smoky Mountain Field School, or even have their try playing junior rangers.

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Dwyer and Associates will always be for preservation of biomes and other natural environments that exist within national parks. More writings on national parks in the U.S. here.