Jai Lucas plans ‘big overhaul’ for UM basketball. Here’s what the new coach has planned
Jai Lucas stepped off a private jet in Miami on a sunny picture-perfect Sunday afternoon holding the hand of his young son, Jaxin. His wife, Kori, walked alongside, pushing their infant son Kalib, in a baby stroller.
The young family was about to embark on a journey that is making headlines nationwide.
Lucas, 36, became the youngest men’s basketball coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference when he was hired by the University of Miami last week to replace legendary Jim Larranaga, who retired unexpectedly the day after Christmas, less than two years after leading the Hurricanes to the school’s first Final Four.
Lucas left his job as Duke associate head coach to take over the UM program. The night before boarding the plane to Miami, Lucas was in the Blue Devils’ jubilant locker room celebrating their ACC championship-clinching win over rival North Carolina. Duke players showered him with water and love after he coached them for the last time.
Although it pained him to leave the top-ranked Blue Devils as they head into the postseason for a potential national championship run, he knows he has a mountain of work to do during the next few weeks to start the UM renovation project after the Hurricanes finished last place in the ACC with a 3-17 conference record and 7-24 record overall.
He must put together his staff, prepare for the March 24 opening of the transfer portal and hit the recruiting trail for what is expected to be a complete (or at least near-complete) roster overhaul.
Lucas met UM players Sunday night and was formally introduced by UM on Monday at a news conference on campus. He delivered a speech that made his father, former NBA player and coach John Lucas II, cry, and left Larranaga and the UM boosters in attendance optimistic.
“I’ve dreamed of this moment my whole life, and this is exactly what it looked like,” he began, wearing a giant smile and an orange and green “U” lapel pin. “I’m grateful to the University of Miami for trusting me with the responsibility of leading this program into the new era of basketball.”
Among the many people he thanked, he was especially gracious to Larranaga, who, like Lucas, got his first head coaching job at 36 (at Bowling Green), made history leading George Mason to a Final Four and led the Hurricanes to new heights, leaving as the school’s winningest coach in history.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done for the last 14 years of this program,” Lucas said, looking directly at Larranaga. “You took it the highest it had ever been, and I plan to continue to build on the strong foundation, the strong bones you left behind.”
Larranaga was impressed with the young coach.
“He’s got a clear vision, worked for some of the best coaches in the history of the game, he’s going to be a huge success,” Larranaga said. “I’m happy I’m in a good place in my own life. My only regret was not winning a national championship here.”
Lucas’ prior jobs at Texas, Kentucky and Duke and his success navigating the transfer portal, recruiting wars and NIL contracts made him an attractive candidate as the college basketball landscape has changed in recent years.
“I’m sure a lot of you are asking, `Why Jai Lucas?’ and to answer that question, you really have to know me,” he said. “My whole life has prepared me for this moment. I became a coach long before I knew this was my calling.
“I was high recruit, I was a McDonald’s All-American, I was in the portal before the portal was a thing, I was a transfer [he transferred from the University of Florida to Texas after his freshman year]. I started 30 games, I came off the bench and had games where I didn’t play.”
Those experiences prepared him for dealing with players in all stages of their development.
He said the state of Florida has strong upcoming recruiting classes, and he plans to start making his sales pitch immediately. Asked if he expects any of Duke’s recruits to flip and follow him to Miami, he replied: “I can’t speak on anybody who signed or committed anywhere, but you always want to keep the best players home, so that’s what we’ll try to do.”
He is meeting 1-on-1 with the current UM players to see if they want to stay or fit in his plans, but said he is preparing for “a big overhaul” and that his expectation coming in was he would need at least 13 new players.
“That’s the way it is now, but you never know,” he said. “I have to make sure I recruit people in line with my vision.”
Lucas is not the first member of his family to launch his head coaching career in Miami.
Jai’s father started his coaching career with the Miami Tropics of the U.S. Basketball League when Jai was a toddler. Lucas bought the Tropics in the summer of 1991 to use the team as a tool in helping players overcome drug problems, a cause that was near to his heart as his 14-year playing career was interrupted by substance abuse.
He led the Tropics to two championships in 1992 and 1993 and helped players gain sobriety along the way.
Lucas II was then hired as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, the first of six NBA teams for which he worked. On Monday, the proud father watched with tears in his eyes as his youngest son took over the UM program.
“I met with Jai last night, I had all these things to tell him about being a coach and I just tore my paper up because he seems to be his own man and he knows what he wants to do,” John Lucas said. “The best thing I can do now is to just be his dad.”
Jai has always been an old soul, his mother, Debbie said, and he absorbed everything around him even when they didn’t realize he was paying attention. When he was 3 and the family was driving through a sketchy Houston neighborhood, Jai asked from the back seat: “Are we in South Central L.A.?” His parents realized he had been watching the news about the riots in L.A.
Throughout his life, he took mental notes about how his father handled his career as a player and coach. After thanking former bosses/mentors Rick Barnes, Shaka Smart, John Calipari and Jon Scheyer, Jai turned his attention to his father.
“Lastly, I’d like to thank my first example as a coach, someone who taught me a foundation of hard work, and relentless pursuit of excellence, through adversity,” Lucas said. “My appreciation for relationship-building comes from my first example as a coach, who happens to be my father.
“I’ve watched him connect with players on a personal level, have seen him help them on an individual level, through trials and tribulations, mentor them and help them find their way back, just like he did. He’s my true definition of what a coach means to me. I love you.”
Lucas comes from a strong family of leaders, educators, and athletes. His wife played softball for the Texas Longhorns.
His father was raised in Durham, North Carolina, and went on to become an All-American in basketball and tennis at the University of Maryland. He was the No. 1 pick by the Houston Rockets in the 1976 NBA Draft and played professional tennis in the offseason.
Jai’s grandfather, John Lucas Sr., who celebrated his 104th birthday in November 2024, was an esteemed educator for 60 years and was instrumental in desegregating Hillside High School, where he was hired as principal in 1962 and where John II began his athletic career. Lucas Middle School was named after John Sr. in 2012.
Jai’s older brother, John Lucas III, was a talented tennis player (he once took a game off Andy Roddick), played college basketball at Oklahoma State and has played in the NBA. Jai’s older sister, Tarvia, is a a former teacher who lives in Houston and helps run the Lucas’ drug rebab program and JL3, one of the nation’s top grassroots basketball organizations. Duke five-star forward signee Shelton Henderson played for JL3 in the 2024 Nike EYBL circuit.
Lucas played tennis and basketball as a kid. He was rated the No. 20 recruit in the nation by ESPN in the Class of 2007. He played point guard at Florida for Billy Donovan and earned SEC All-Freshman Team but transferred to Texas and sat out the next season per transfer rules. He played 58 games for the Longhorns and had one start. He went undrafted in 2011, played overseas and in the NBA D-League until 2013.
He began his coaching career in 2016 at Texas, where he spent seven years rising from special assistant to director of basketball operations to assistant coach. From there he went to Kentucky, where he spent two seasons as the primary recruiter and assistant coach.
Three years ago, Scheyer hired Lucas, who was the first non-Duke alumnus on the coaching staff in three decades. He served primarily as Duke’s defensive coordinator, and the Blue Devils consistently ranked among the top defensive teams in the ACC under his tutelage.
As for his staff at Miami, Lucas is talking to people from the grassroots level, high school, college and the pros. He said he is unsure if he will retain anyone from the current staff.
Columbus High coach Andrew Moran and Arkansas assistant Bruiser Flint are expected to be approached about jobs on the staff. Moran guided Columbus to four consecutive state championships with teams led on the court by Cameron and Cayden Boozer, the twin sons of former Duke and NBA standout Carlos Boozer. Lucas was heavily involved with the recruiting of the twins for Duke, and they chose the Blue Devils over the Hurricanes.
Flint, 59, would offer 20 years of experience as a head coach after leading UMass and Drexel from 1996 to 2016. He worked with Lucas at Kentucky.
“We believe Jai is the right leader at this new time in college basketball,” said UM athletic director Dan Radakovich as he introduced the new coach.
The boosters and school officials applauded. The Lucas family watched proudly.
“He’s only 36, but he’s put a lot of work into this and we’re a basketball family,” Debbie Lucas said. “He’s ready.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 4:16 PM.