First-year Miami head coach Jai Lucas used his ACC Tipoff podium on Wednesday to outline a blueprint built on defense, in-state roots and a wholesale roster reset, while tipping his cap those who have come before him. The event ran Oct. 6-8 at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown with live coverage on ACC Network.
Lucas opened by thanking Jim Larranaga for the last 14 years, calling Miami's retired coach a continued resource who attended practice this week. Lucas added that Larranaga's longstanding friendship with Lucas' father, former NBA coach John Lucas, gives him a trusted sounding board as he transitions into the job. "This is really his program that he's built and took to new heights," Lucas said.
From there, Lucas framed Year 1 around identity. His stated priority is to reestablish Miami with a defense-first approach and "great positional size," a roster design he believes creates immediate competitiveness in the ACC. "That was the way to be most competitive right away," he said.
Lucas said he targeted players with pride in being from Florida or the region and identified the trio he brought to Charlotte — Tre Donaldson, Malik Reneau and Ernest Udeh Jr. — as the core for Year 1. Those three were also Miami's men's representatives at Tipoff.
Lucas did not minimize the scale of the roster overhaul. With a blank slate, he described assembling a completely new team as both an advantage — allowing him to build to his style — and a challenge that compressed the whole process into short windows. The heavier lift, he said, has been forging connection across the group through the summer so the team can function by November.
Lucas said his role is to make the Hurricanes "as competitive as possible" and to ensure the non-conference slate positions Miami as a high-NET, quality-quad team entering league play.
Lucas also weighed in on the ACC's standing in college basketball. With multiple Hall of Fame-level retirements in recent seasons, he called the moment a "reset," but said new coaching hires and recent successes point to the ACC reasserting itself and stocking the NCAA tournament with "at least six to seven teams" annually.
Miami will begin their men's college basketball season against Jacksonville on Nov. 3.