It's Done: Jai Lucas Is Next Miami Hurricanes Head Coach ... Now Big Task Is The Canes Rebuild

Go ahead and make it official. Duke assistant coach Jai Lucas, whose hiring was first reported Feb. 22 when he was still in contract negotiations with Miami, is Jim Larranaga’s replacement.

It’s confirmed that he has signed his contract with UM, and a press conference is being scheduled for Monday.

Now the task of rebuilding the Hurricanes roster will be task No. 1. And it’s a major one after Miami’s woeful season that saw Larranaga step down early in the year with Bill Courtney taking over as interim coach.

There’s little doubt the roster will need to be built from the ground up with transfers and through recruiting, as there’s not much proven talent that would be returning from the current team.

And keep in mind that this is a program that’s still not too far removed from its historic run to the Final Four – that was in 2023. But after two losing seasons a lot of work needs to be done, and Miami picked Lucas as head that task.

As for Lucas’ resume? Well, this is his first college head coaching job, but he’s made a name for himself as a top assistant.

And one of the nation’s best recruiters.

The big picture

In his role at Duke he helped develop the backcourt and served as defensive coordinator – he has been with the program since May, 2022. He helped the program’s 2023 recruiting class rank second, while the 2024 class was first in the nation and 2025 was second.

Prior to Duke, Lucas was on staff at Kentucky for two seasons, joining the Wildcats as recruiting coordinator in August 2020 before a promotion to assistant coach/recruiting coordinator for the 2020-21 season. In two seasons with UK, he helped the program sign five players who played in either the McDonald’s All-American or Jordan Brand Classic games.

Lucas began his coaching career at his alma mater, Texas, where he spent seven seasons on staff. The Houston native began as a special assistant with the program from 2013-15 before serving as director of basketball operations in the 2015-16 season. He was promoted to assistant coach in June of 2016 and in his first year helped the Longhorns win 20 games and earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

In his first two recruiting cycles as an assistant coach there, Lucas helped the Longhorns ink two top-10 ranked signing classes.

As a player, Lucas spent three seasons in the professional ranks, including one in Latvia with BK Valmiera of the Baltic Basketball League (2011-12) and two in the NBA Development League with the Idaho Stampede (2012-13) and Canton Charge (2013). He appeared in 58 games with one start during a two-year career at Texas, helping the Longhorns earn back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids. Lucas played at University of Florida for his freshman season in 2007-08 and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.

Lucas was a McDonald’s All-American, a Jordan Brand Classic selection and a Parade All-America Second Team honoree as a senior at Bellaire High School in Houston. He started for three seasons and was a three-time District Player of the Year while leading Bellaire to three consecutive district titles.

He graduated from Texas in 2011 with a degree in corporate communication.

Now Miami wants his next achievement to be helping the Canes win games.