Jai Lucas was a point guard for the Texas Longhorns for two seasons (2009-11) before he played professional basketball overseas and in the NBA G-League for five years. Then, Lucas' coaching career began, and he has had a rapid ascension since then.
Over the last four years, Lucas went from being an assistant coach at Duke to becoming the associate head coach for the Blue Devils. Now, Lucas is reportedly set to become the next head coach of the Miami Hurricanes' men's basketball team.
NEW: Duke associate head coach Jai Lucas is set to become the next head coach at Miami, @TiptonEdits reports🙌https://t.co/B8yJi0YHse pic.twitter.com/kSbbKeh45N
— On3 (@On3sports) March 5, 2025
During his two seasons with the Longhorns, Lucas earned 169 total points, 70 assists, 44 rebounds, and 10 steals while appearing in 58 games for Texas. Lucas' first coaching gig was as an assistant coach for the Horns from 2016 until 2020. He then went on to become an assistant coach for the Kentucky Wildcats before accepting his job at Duke in 2022.
Lucas is taking over the Canes basketball program following former Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga's announcement that he was retiring, citing a discomfort with the current state of college sports and the world of NIL deals.
Currently, Miami is under the leadership of interim head coach Bill Courtney, who was the associate head coach under Larrañaga.
Also read: The Longhorns' outlook after the first round of the SEC Tournament
As of now, the Hurricanes are ranked 18th in the ACC (last place) with an abysmal 6-24 overall record and a 2-17 record against conference opponents. Miami has just one regular season game remaining, where the Canes will face the NC State Wolfpack
Lucas is best known for his recruiting prowess, which might be exactly what the Hurricanes need to revitalize a program that has fallen off the deep end.