Former Kentucky assistant Jai Lucas will be next head coach at Miami

Jai Lucas nearly signed with Kentucky as a high school recruit. This very website got a lot of traffic out of the the Lucas recruitment. We saw the guard ultimately land in Lexington when he joined John Calipari’s staff for the 2020-21 season. Lucas would spend two seasons at Kentucky before leaving to join Jon Scheyer’s first coaching staff at Duke.

Now Jai Lucas is taking the next step in his basketball journey. The 36-year-old is set to become the next head coach at Miami. Lucas will replace Jim Larranaga in Coral Gables.

Miami is hiring Duke associate head coach Jai Lucas as the Hurricanes next head coach, source tells @On3sports.

Lucas, 36, joined Duke as an assistant in 2022 after a couple years under John Calipari at Kentucky. A native of Houston, Lucas also spent time at Texas as an… pic.twitter.com/XkfwLOo5Ry

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) March 5, 2025

The announcement is expected on Thursday. Jai Lucas will leave Duke after the end of the regular season to start roster-building for the Hurricanes. The college basketball transfer portal opens on March 24.

Jai Lucas signed with Florida in the 2007 recruiting class but only spent one season on Billy Donovan’s roster in Gainesville. Lucas transferred home to Texas where he would play for head coach Rick Barnes. The point guard was never a full-time starter for the Horns and finished his collegiate career averaging only 5.0 points per game.

After spending some time in the NBA G League, Jai Lucas began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Texas under Shaka Smart. That led to the opportunity at Kentucky and ultimately the opportunity at Duke. Now Lucas will get to sit in the big chair in the ACC.

Do not be surprised to see Miami pop up in some blue-chip recruiting battles.

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