Miami men's basketball is now in perfect position for a top four seed in the NCAA tournament and should be one of the favorites to make some noise in the ACC.
BREAKING: F/C Malik Reneau is likely to return to Miami after the latest court ruling.
— CanesMuse (@canesmuse) August 17, 2026
Reneau spent time with the Magic summer league team before his decision. pic.twitter.com/EXUaHvp0D9
Malik Reneau is expected to be back at Miami after recent court ruling
The recent bump in Miami basketball stock comes from the news that All-ACC forward Malik Reneau will regain a year of college eligibility and rejoin the Hurricanes.
After a stint in the NBA Summer League, Reneau joined a class-action lawsuit filed against the NCAA by more than 50 players from the high school Class of 2022. The lawsuit sought reinstated eligibility for the 2026-27 season, and following a court ruling, those athletes got exactly that.
Miami should be viewed with the utmost respect entering Jai Lucas' second season
Miami HC Jai Lucas went through the offseason not expecting the return of the Hurricanes best player. He put his foot on the pedal to retool the squad and ended up acquiring Villanova transfer Acaden Lewis, Georgia transfer Somto Cyril, and five-star recruit Caleb Gaskins, among others. The Canes were already projected to improve on the success from the 2025-26 season.
With Reneau back, Miami will easily enter the season as a preseason top-10 team and things have now hit a completely new level for Canes' basketball. This is a team that now has a final four ceiling.
Miami invested in the portal but was smart enough to keep all options open
Lucas said Friday on the Dan LeBatard Show that the program had been monitoring the situation and held open one extra roster spot. It should be assumed that most programs did the same, so naturally there are other teams that also heavily benefit from this ruling. But how many got their best player back AND had a successful transfer portal class (along with a five-star recruit entering the fold)?
It's safe to say that even if other programs got better today, not many improved to the extent that Miami just did.
Add us as a preferred source on Google