Miami officially announced the hiring of Duke assistant Jai Lucas as their next head coach on Thursday morning. Lucas has spent the last three seasons as an assistant under Jon Scheyer and the previous two as the associate head coach.
Miami Director of Athletics Dan Radakovich stated "Jai is an innovative coach, a relentless recruiter and proven talent developer whose knowledge and passion for the game resonated throughout the interview process." Lucas was previously on the staffs at Kentucky and Texas before Scheyer hired him for his initial staff at Duke.
Per a press release from the Miami athletic department, "Lucas will be introduced formally at a press conference at UM’s Lakeside Auditorium." Reports have stated Lucas is expected to leave Duke after its final 2024-25 regular season game on Saturday versus North Carolina and start immediately with Miami.
Lucas takes over a Miami basketball program that is two years removed from their first Final Four and three years removed from its inaugual Elite Elite. Those campaigns feel distant as they have already tied the program record for losses this season with the final game coming up on Saturday versus North Carolina State.
Welcome to The U, Coach Lucas 🙌 #GoCanes pic.twitter.com/zfJGWGZTnZ
— Canes Men’s Basketball (@CanesHoops) March 6, 2025
Lucas will face a huge rebuilding job for the 2025-26 roster. Miami needs an entirely new frontcourt with all of the scholarship centers and forwards on the 2024-25 roster in their last season of eligibility. Miami guards, A.J. Staton-McCray, Paul Djobet, Jalil Bethea, Austin Swartz and Divine Ugochukwu have eligiblity remaining beyond 2024-25.
Miami lost its only two 2025 signees following Jim Larranaga's retirement in December. Expect the inaugural roster under Lucas to be primarily made up of incoming transfers. Lucas is reportedly going to hire Miami Columbus head coach Andrew Moran as one of his initial assistant coaches.
Columbus five-star prospects Cameron and Cayden Boozer signed with Duke and Lucas was their primary recruiters. Lucas is one of the best recruiters nationally. In addition to the Boozer twins, Lucas was the primary recruiter for Duke superstar Cooper Flagg among others throughout his career.