Jai Lucas admits he expects a big overhaul on Miami's roster this offseason

The Miami Hurricanes finally have their next head coach in Jai Lucas. Now, the work begins for Lucas. That means building a roster that he can use to help turn the program around next season.

At his introductory press conference, Lucas was asked about his recruiting plan. He made no bones about the situation. Miami fans can expect an almost entirely new group of players on the Hurricanes roster for next season.

“I know it’s going to be a big overhaul because you just never know,” Jai Lucas said. “My expectation coming in was that I would need to get at least 13 new players just because that’s the way it is now. But you never know, like I talked about earlier with the opportunity of people coming back, it could be a little bit lower.”

Talent is important to everyone in recruiting. However, Jai Lucas made sure to add that it’s also important for the incoming players to be aligned with one another and the coaching staff. That way everyone is on the same page.

“But, my expectation is just hit the ground coming in and find people who fit what I talked about. That’s a big key for me,” Lucas said. “Everybody has to be aligned. If you’re not aligned, you’re not going to be able to win. So, I have to make sure I recruit people who’re aligned with my vision, but also the vision of the staff.”

Much of the recruiting that Jai Lucas is referring to will likely be done in the Transfer Portal. Last season, Miami brought in five transfers from the portal. For his part, Lucas was previously an assistant coach at Duke. The Blue Devils brought in four players from the portal but leaned more heavily on high school recruiting.

Lucas’ recruiting ability was a major reason why he ended up getting the job. In a statement following his hiring, athletic director Dan Radakovich made sure to reference it while praising the young coach.

“Jai is an innovative coach, a relentless recruiter and proven talent developer whose knowledge and passion for the game resonated throughout the interview process. He has coached at some of college basketball’s most storied programs under tremendous head coaches,” Radakovich said. “It is clear that Jai understands what it takes to compete on and off the floor in this new era of college basketball and he sees the great potential at Miami. We are fortunate to have Jai join us in Coral Gables.”

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

Jai Lucas made the decision to jump from Duke in what could be a special March to take over at Miami. It was a decision that came down to the fact the season was over for Miami. So, he wanted to get to work.

“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.”

Coming off a 7-24 season where they went 3-17 in conference play and missed the ACC Tournament, the Miami Hurricanes have a lot of work to do this offseason. Now, Jai Lucas is there to jump into the job as quickly as possible.