As the Miami Hurricanes continue to establish themselves, especially with a new roster, Jai Lucas loves what he sees from his four-star transfer guard.
The Miami Hurricanes men's basketball team is finding a flow on both sides of the court, despite dealing with injuries and having a couple of bodies down. They had a tough outing against the reigning champion Florida Gators, which resulted in a loss, with a final score of 82-68. The team showed great signs of competitiveness, but learned that there are still levels to climb in college basketball. A few days later, the Hurricanes faced freshman NBA lottery prospect AJ Dybantsa and the BYU Cougars and led after the first half, but due to self-inflicting errors the rest of the game, the Utah program executed towards victory, with a final score of 72-62.
In fairness, there were more positive takeaways from the Hurricanes in that matchup compared to the in-state rivals game.
Afterwards, the Hurricanes have responded with a three-game winning streak, all convincing a dominant victories. They finished third in the ESPN Events Invitational Magic bracket after beating the Georgetown Hoyas, with a final score of 78-65, followed by a takeover team performance at Oxford, Mississippi, against the Ole Miss Rebels.
The latest, after a sloppy first half, the team responded with a second-half surge to dominate the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, with a final score of 88-64. Throughout this span, the offense has been clicking, meanwhile the defense remains a priority with Jai Lucas at the head of the program.
At the helm has been senior guard Tre Donaldson, who's been challenged to improve as a pass-first point guard in his first and only season with the Hurricanes. In Saturday night's matchup against the Golden Eagles, he finished with a new collegiate career-high, 11 assists. The Tallahassee native also had 12 points, his second double-double of the season, but struggled by shooting 33.3 percent from the field.
Despite the inefficient shooting, Lucas was impressed with Donaldson's impact on the game:
"He's just getting better and getting more comfortable in the role he's in here," he said. The role he's in here is completely different than the role he was in at Michigan. They played through Danny Wolf as a point guard. Giving him the opportunity to play and display his IQ, his ability to run the team, I think it's given him a little bit more life and confidence. It's just a different role we need him in here. There's nothing they did wrong in Michigan. They won the Big 10 and was in the Sweet 16, so they did it exactly right. We ask him to do something different here and for him to have 11 assists and one turnover, at any level, any game, any team, it's huge."
Donaldson was one of the key players Lucas looked to establish a new culture with as he began his Hurricanes tenure, and so far, it's proving to be working. They already surpassed last season's win total of seven, and could be a dark horse in the ACC. As conference play grows near, Donaldson and the team are heating up.
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