Coach Jai Lucas rebuilt the Miami Hurricanes men's basketball program from scratch, fostering unprecedented success and setting the stage for future triumphs.
The Miami Hurricanes men’s basketball season ended after a 79–69 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32. They finished with a 26-9 overall record, tied for the third-most wins in program history. After an offseason filled with uncertainty and no returning players, the newly constructed roster managed to find continuity on the fly and surpass expectations.
The regular season success and “March Madness” appearance, despite being short-lived, established a foundation for the early portions of the Jai Lucas chapter. Following the elimination, he took a moment to reflect on the events that occurred in his first time as a head coach.
“For me, this first year, it was an absolute pleasure and a joy to coach this team,” Lucas said on Sunday. “I thank them for believing in me and believing in a person who had never coached before. Everything they gave me this year, I’m forever in debt in them. I’m proud of them. Although it sucks right now, I’m proud of them and I’ll remember this forever.”
The 37-year-old inherited a program that was on the brink of shattering. They were coming off a 7-24 season, in which coach Jim Larranaga retired in the middle of, ending a 13-year tenure.
Lucas was known to be one of the best recruiters in the nation, especially as an assistant coach with the Duke Blue Devils and Kentucky Wildcats. He utilized the same skills by bringing in the right players to rebuild the program, such as seniors Tre Donaldson, Malik Reneau, and Ernest Udeh Jr., plus junior Tru Washington. Each of them finished with career-years in their first season with the Hurricanes.
Also, Donaldson and Reneau earned All-ACC honors.
“For me, it started with Malik and Tre,” Lucas added. “They were my first two commits. They were the two people I wanted to build a team around, build a team through. It started there and then it kind of dominoed with Shelton [Henderson], Ernest, and Tru. Then, we kind of built it from there. For me, I just wanted to make sure, because I was a former player, I’ve been in those points. I’ve transferred, I know what that feels like. I wanted to make sure I gave them everything I had of me so they [Reneau, Donaldson, and Udeh Jr.] could enjoy their last year of basketball and they could get the most out of in basketball. I felt like they did, with both of them being All-Conference players: Malik first team, Tre second team. Shelton should’ve been All-Freshman team, but that’s a different conversation. As much as they can say about me, I can say about them. I’m forever in debt for them.”
“They’ll put Miami basketball in a place where we can go nowhere but up.”
The program will have an opportunity to retain key pieces, such as Henderson, Washington, and freshman guard Dante Allen. After reaching the NCAA Tournament and showing competitiveness, players all over the nation could consider joining coach Lucas’s roster with the Hurricanes, whether it be high school or transfer portal recruits.
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