Jon Scheyer details how Duke has filled Jai Lucas' role after Miami departure

The Duke Blue Devils are in the midst of what could go down as a special NCAA Tournament run for the program. However, it hasn’t come without its challenges. In particular, head coach Jon Scheyer has had to deal with losing one of his key assistant coaches in Jai Lucas.

Lucas was hired by the Miami Hurricanes in early March, late in the regular season and ahead of the ACC Tournament. That wasn’t an easy decision, but it’s what he needed to do for his new team’s future. Still, it’s forced Scheyer and Duke to adapt on the fly.

“Naturally everybody has stepped up,” Scheyer said. “All three of those guys have stepped up and helped. The fact you’re playing in the NCAA Tournament, you have two games a week, so Emanuel [Dildy] and Chris [Carrawell], for me, have been just really key guys with handling all the scouting with help from the guys you mentioned. Our video team has done an incredible job, too.”

Since Lucas left Duke, the Blue Devils have not lost a game. That includes winning the ACC Tournament and now making it to the Sweet Sixteen with a chance to make the Elite Eight. It’s a credit to the success of the other Duke assistants filling in for Lucas.

“But it’s been as seamless as could be when you miss somebody like Jai. Jai is obviously great with what he’s done for us and what he’s going to do going forward,” Scheyer said. “But it’s been very seamless with Chris and Emanuel stepping up and all those other guys being ready to go.”

Duke will take on Arizona in the Sweet Sixteen on Thursday night. With a win, the Blue Devils will advance to the Elite Eight for the second season in a row. This time, however, they would have done that while missing a key assistant coach.

Jai Lucas explains why he left Duke during season to start at Miami

It wasn’t easy for Jai Lucas to leave Duke when he did, particularly given the special season the Blue Devils are having. At the same time, Lucas knew it was best to go when he did, as he explained during his introduction at Miami.

“The times have changed. This is the first year teams didn’t qualify for the ACC Tournament. So the season here was over. I felt like it was my responsibility as quick as I could and we got started on the right foot and got the program going. That was really important to me,” Lucas said.

“It was extremely hard. It was extremely hard to leave. Just off the relationships you’ve built there. I was there from the beginning there with Jon, three years ago when we started his program at Duke. This year, we finally had a team that could win it all. You recruited those kids and we had returning kids that’s been there three years and you build your relationship with them. That was the hardest part.”