Miami hires Jai Lucas as coach; popular assistant expected to leave Duke after regular season ends

Miami is expected to officially announce Duke associate head coach Jai Lucas as its next men’s basketball head coach Thursday, sources told CBS Sports. Lucas was identified as the front-runner for the job in late February when CanesInSight was the first to report the development.

Lucas will leave championship-minded Duke following its regular season finale this weekend against North Carolina to get a jump start on rebuilding the Hurricanes. 

The 36-year-old Lucas has been a key asset under Jon Scheyer for the past two-plus years as Duke has maintained its elite reputation in the post-Mike Krzyzewski era. Lucas was a critical voice in the recruitments of players such as Cooper Flagg, in addition to incoming five-star Cameron Boozer and his twin brother, four-star Cayden, who coincidentally enough hail from Miami. (The Boozers chose Duke over Miami last fall and could be two of the most impactful freshmen in the sport next season.) 

Lucas is the son of John Lucas II, a well-renowned and highly respected person in basketball circles for decades, dating back to being the No. 1 pick out of Maryland in 1976. Lucas II played in the NBA from 1976-90 before moving into coaching in the Association from 1992-2023. Jai Lucas played at Texas — where he began his coaching career in 2016. He left in 2020 to take a job on John Calipari’s staff at Kentucky, then was recruited away by Scheyer two years later. 

Scheyer spoke about Lucas’ readiness to be a head coach after Duke’s record-setting 110-67 win over Illinois at Madison Square Garden on Feb 22.  

“Absolutely he’s a head coach, no question about it,” Scheyer said. “It’s part of why I hired him, and the job he’s done for us has been incredible. … I can tell you 100% Jai’s an amazing coach.”

Miami was one of the more aggressive programs in the first two years of the NIL era (thanks to having an outspoken, ambitious booster) but that turned in the past two years. With Lucas (set to be the youngest high-major head coach) coming aboard, the U is expected to again be a player both in the portal and high school recruiting. 

Beyond growing into one of the strongest recruiters in the industry, Lucas has also been a key defensive strategist at Duke. This season has seen the Blue Devils at their defensive best under Scheyer, ranking fourth nationalnly in adjusted defensive efficiency at KenPom.com. 

Lucas is expected to leave Duke and be with Miami in a full-time capacity after the Duke-UNC game this weekend, a source said. It’s an unusual arrangement that reflects the drastic shift in college sports recruiting in 2025. Lucas has helped Duke to national title contender status. The Blue Devils are pacing toward a No. 1 seed and have the potential national player of the year in Flagg. In a previous era, an assistant coach would stay on until the end of the season. With the portal now playing a major factor in hastened roster turnover, Lucas can ill afford to stick around with the Blue Devils until their final game in the NCAA Tournament.

If Jai Lucas is Miami’s next coach, Duke’s rout of Hurricanes offers glimpse of what’s possible

Eric Bossi

By leaving in early March, Lucas and Miami have a head start on every other power-conference program that will change coaches in this year’s cycle.

Lucas will succeed Jim Larrañaga, who retired in late December amid a dismal 4-8 start. Jim Larrañaga coached Miami for more than 11 seasons and won 274 games, including a charmed run to the 2023 Final Four. Since he stepped down the day after Christmas, things got worse. Miami is an abysmal 6-24 and will conclude the regular season Saturday at home against NC State. With the ACC now an 18-team conference, the bottom three teams in the standings do not get invites to the league tournament, meaning Miami’s season is done this weekend.