Bill Courtney (1970 – 2026)

Bill Courtney, who served as interim head coach of the University of Miami basketball team last season after Jim Larranaga retired, died on Monday in Philadelphia, where he had been working as an assistant coach at Temple.

Coach Courtney was 55.

“Temple University is deeply saddened to announce the sudden passing of assistant men’s basketball coach Bill Courtney,” read a statement from the school. No cause of death was given.

“Bill was my best friend for 30 years,” said legendary Miami coach Jim Larranaga “He was instrumental in every success I enjoyed at Bowling Green, George Mason and the University of Miami. It is very difficult for me to even talk about this. We were very, very close, spoke almost every day and had very long conversations.”

“He was 25 years old and a volunteer assistant coach at American University,” Larranaga said. “I was looking for an assistant coach, had interviewed 26 guys and not found the right person. An assistant at American suggested I interview Bill. After our first conversation, I knew he was what I was looking for. He was upbeat, smiley, never had a bad day in his life. That is how it started, and we stayed close for 30 years.”

Our deepest condolences and prayers for the Courtney family.

-University of Miami Athletics contributed to this article -