New Miami head coach Jai Lucas spoke to Hurricanes' play-by-play announcer Joe Zagacki on Thursday morning about the style of play he prefers as he leads a program for the first time. Lucas is the defensive coordinator for Duke. The Blue Devils rank in the top 10 nationally in four defensive categories.
Duke is fourth nationally holding opponents to 38.2 percent from the field, third with opponents shooting 42.7 percent on two-point attempts, sixth with opposing teams averaging 20.6 rebounds per game and sixth allowing 61.1 points per game. Duke is in the top 25 nationally in five other defensive categories.
Interestingly, Lucas mentioned wanting to play fast. Duke is 279th nationally averaging 68.2 possessions per game. Miami is 219th averaging 69.5 possessions per game. Despite their low ranking in possessions per game, Duke is 14th nationally averaging 83.5 PPG. Miami is 179th averaging 74.1 PPG.
Lucas will have nearly an entirely new roster entering the 2025-26 season. Guards Jalil Bethea, Paul Djobet, A.J. Staton-McCray and Divine Ugochukwu are the only players on the Miami roster beyond this season. Guard Nijel Pack could petition the NCAA for a sixth season after playing in only nine games in 2024-25 with a foot injury.
"It'll start on the defensive end...We'll be a very hard-nosed defensive team. We'll give you multiple looks but we're going to be able to rebound the ball and that starts with controlling the ball...Making sure the ball can't get in the paint...Offensively playing fast...The way the game is played today you have to be able to have multiple people on the court who can shoo...Making sure we're playing at the right tempo so we have enough possessions in the game...We want to play...in the 80s playing in the high 70s but also keeping people in the 60s.. so that's just kind of a little template of what I want to do."Miami head coach Jai Lucas
Miami is one of the worst defensive teams nationally in 2024-25, but with a nearly, if not an entirely new roster next season it is difficult to project how the Hurricanes will be defensively in 2025-26. Lucas will clearly build his team with a defensive first mindset no matter who is on the roster.
The rebounding will be the biggest unknown for Miami. Lucas has to rebuild the entire frontcourt entering next season. Expect the transfer portal to be the main emphasis as Lucas builds the 2025-26 Miami roster. Miami has frequently been undersized in recent seasons, even during their runs to the Midwest Regional Final in 2022 and 2023.
One Nike EYBL head coach described Jai Lucas as a ‘monster recruiter’ in part because of his ties to the JL3 Nike EYBL team. https://t.co/bFCkbpEXZM
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) February 23, 2025
Duke has one of the tallest rosters nationally with the average player standing 6'7. The Blue Devils start 6'7 Kon Knueppel and Sion James and Tyreese Proctor who are 6'5. Miami's guards are all 6'5 or under. The Hurricanes start 6'10 Lynn Kidd at center and 6'8 Brandon Johnson and 6'7 Matthew Cleveland at the forwards.
Miami needs to improve its rim protection for the 2025-26 season. Cleveland leads Miami with 20 blocks in 28 games. The Hurricanes are 170th nationally, averaging 3.3 blocks per game. Duke is 125th, averaging 3.6 blocks per game, with superstar Cooper Flagg contributing 1.2 BPG.
Starting on the defensive end and creating a hard nosed defensive team sets the foundation for the overall culture of a program. Shots do not always fall. Lucas told Zagacki he believes in the saying that defense wins championships. Miami improving defensively is critical for turning around what has been the worst season in program history.