From Durham to Coral Gables? That's going to be the case for Jai Lucas, as news has broken on Saturday night that the Duke assistant is set to become the new Miami Hurricanes head coach. Lucas is expected to stay with Duke for the rest of the season before making the move south.
Lucas, who suited up for Florida and Texas during his college playing days, is currently the associate head coach for Jon Scheyer. Before joining Duke's coaching staff, Lucas was previously an assistant at Kentucky and Texas. Now, he's ready for his first head coaching gig. Miami fans appear to be all for this update. Can't blame them for that.
Duke’s Jai Lucas will be the next head coach at Miami, source confirms.
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) February 22, 2025
Jai Lucas will reportedly become the new head coach for the Miami Hurricanes
There's a bit of a risk here, but Lucas has proven he can recruit and attract top talent. It's not a hard sell to play for a program like Duke, but will Lucas be able to have the same kind of success now that he's going to be leading the way for Miami? Fans are ready to find out if he can get the job done, but they're confident he'll deliver:
Jai Lucas was the primary for the following Duke recruits:
— Rick Heidrick (@rheidrick24) February 22, 2025
— Cooper Flagg
— Cameron Boozer
— Khaman Maluach
— Kon Knueppel
— Shelton Henderson
— Cayden Boozer
Primarily has served as Duke’s defensive coordinator. A massive loss, but a job that was very much earned! @CoachJLuc pic.twitter.com/mFEmVeoggC
Jai Lucas to Miami is scary. As a recruiter, NOBODY is better than him. Debate your mother. Now can he coach?
— Frank Oberly (@FOberly) February 22, 2025
Absolutely love this Jai Lucas hire. You give me a guy that’s a top recruiter, and coached under Shaka Smart, Rick Barnes, John Calipari and was the first non-Duke alumnus assistant coach in 30 years? Yes please.
— The Great Gonzales (@Vanderhooooov) February 22, 2025
Go #Canes!!
This Jai Lucas hire
— Justice Sandle (@Justice_News5) February 22, 2025
A. Might keep Jalil at Miami (don’t think he should try the draft until next season)
B. Will hopefully continue the trend of “highest recruit in program history”
C. He knows NIL in and out and his age also helps him as well.
An A hire, just have to see…
They’re hiring Jai Lucas. Hopefully he gets them on the right track but I agree with Nick here. Will Wade would have been great for Miami.
— Cards (@goloucardinals) February 22, 2025
Jai Lucas top assistant in @DukeMBB program to be next head coach @CanesHoops?? So goes the speculations?? Bring it!! "Blue Blood"? "Young Blood"? Enough said!! #TheU @WillManso @AlexDonno @MarcHochman
— SLN (@SportsLineNews) February 22, 2025
Jai Lucas has worked for Rick Barnes, Shaka Smart, John Calipari, Mike Krzyzewski & Jon Scheyer. That is a pretty good resume. https://t.co/GaBld8bRjO
— Brian 'BC' Castaldo (@BC_Castaldo) February 22, 2025
As you can see, people have high hopes for Lucas in this next step of his career. Again, he is a wonderful recruiter, helping other programs land some elite talent in recent years. Now, he'll be tasked to help get Miami back on track. It wasn't long ago the program was in the Final Four, but legendary coach Jim Larranaga has since retired and this campaign has been tough to watch.
There are surely going to be some ups and downs for Lucas in his first year, as he's going to need time to build his staff and also make an impact out on the recruiting trail. However, given his resume, it sure seems like he'll bring a winner's mentality to campus and have Miami basketball back near the top of the ACC sooner rather than later.