Bill Courtney addresses elephant in the room with Miami facing Jai Lucas amid rumors

With Duke facing Miami Tuesday night in Coral Gables, Blue Devils assistant coach Jai Lucas may have been in his future home. Lucas has been heavily linked to the Miami job, getting his first opportunity as a head coach. Nothing has been formally announced, though, and assumably will not until Duke’s season is over.

Even so, there could have been some awkward emotions throughout the game. Miami interim head coach Bill Courtney was asked about the situation, saying “It’s almost impossible” to block out any of the outside noise right now. While Courtney does want his team to focus on the game itself, that can be difficult right now.

“It’s not really a big change for us,” Courtney said. “We’ve got to stay focused and keep the main thing the main thing. And the main thing is the game, preparation for the game. I’m sure our guys, especially younger guys, may have thought about it.

“It’s almost impossible to not hear the noise but all the time, when you’re coaching guys, you want them to try to block out as much noise as possible. There’s always going to be noise, it’s just a different kind of noise each time. You try to do your best to stay focused through all this stuff.”

Lucas himself likely had all kinds of emotions from the Watsco Center. On one hand, Duke played incredibly well and never once looked threatened. Even with Tyrese Proctor going down with an injury, 97 points were put on the board while Miami got to 60. Nearly a 40-point win.

At the same time, the losses have continued to pile on for his potential future program. Lucas will be inheriting a team with a current 2-15 record in the ACC with the games remaining. Miami will not be favored in any of them, especially since two are on the road.

Nothing about the hire has been made official, as Courtney went on to say. Duke’s Jon Scheyer is in the same boat. But for now, all attention Scheyer, Lucas, and others with the Blue Devils appears to be on winning a national championship.

“Absolutely he’s a head coach, no question about it. It’s part of why I hired him,” Scheyer recently said. “The job he’s done for us has been incredible. Any report or anything that’s out there, I’m just getting wind of it now. We’ll cross that bridge and figure it out. But I can tell you, 100%, Jai is an amazing coach. He’s been great for these guys. We’ll continue to move forward together and figure all that out. But he’s terrific, man. All across the board, he’s great.