Columbus boys’ basketball coach officially hired to join Miami Hurricanes coaching staff
As the Columbus boys’ basketball coach Andrew Moran spent the past four seasons winning state championships and eventually a national champion.
At his new post, Moran will try to help revive the University of Miami program and perhaps help them one day compete for a national title again.
On Friday morning, over a month after it was reported that Moran would be joining new Hurricanes coach Jai Lucas’ staff, UM made the official announcement that the four-time state championship coach is heading to Coral Gables.
Moran will join UM not only as an assistant coach but as director of player development.
“When building my staff, I wanted to prioritize hiring coaches with a proven track record of success,” Lucas said in a statement released Friday by UM. “Andrew has consistently achieved winning at every level of his coaching career, spanning from high school to grassroots. His exceptional ability to teach the game and background in skill development make him a valuable asset to our program.”
Moran led the Explorers to a 145-34 record during his six seasons at Columbus and 112-13 over the past four seasons since seniors and Duke-bound stars Cameron and Cayden Boozer started playing for Columbus.
Moran was named the Naismith National Coach of the Year recently after guiding Columbus to its fourth consecutive state championship and a No. 1 national ranking. Moran has won five state titles in his career, having also won a championship as the coach at Miami Christian prior to his stint at Columbus.
Last week, the Explorers cemented that ranking by becoming the first South Florida boys’ basketball team to win the prestigious Chipotle Nationals tournament.
Columbus stands to remain No. 1 nationally by both ESPN and MaxPreps, and claim the first national title ever for a South Florida team. It was the second national tournament title for Columbus during Moran’s tenure as the Explorers also won The Throne tournament two years ago during the Boozers’ sophomore season.
“It’s obviously amazing and an incredible feeling,” Moran told the Miami Herald after Columbus’ win over Dynamic Prep on April 5 in the Chipotle Nationals final. “It’s the cherry on top. These kids won everything they set their minds to win.”
Moran joins the Hurricanes at a time where he will attempt to help Lucas rebuild a program that reached the Final Four two seasons ago, but this past season finished with a dismal 7-24 record and went 3-17 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Lucas has already begun to rebuild Miami’s roster with recent transfer portal acquisitions such as Miami native and former Indiana power forward Malik Reneau, point guard Tre Donaldson (Michigan), center Ernest Udeh (TCU) and shooting guard Tru Washington (New Mexico).
NEW COLUMBUS COACH
Columbus announced Moran’s successor on Friday afternoon, promoting assistant coach Jorge Milo to head coach.
Milo, a Miami High alum and former assistant coach at his alma mater under then-Stingarees coach Marcus Carreno, has been on Columbus’ staff throughout its entire championship run. Milo has worked with Moran since their days working in pro level training and development of college players as they prepared for the transition to the NBA.
“I’ve been there for six years as associate head coach and we’ve built a winning culture there and we’re excited to keep this thing going,” Milo said. “We have a good group coming back, and have some good kids coming in. We’re excited to keep the level of excellence high and continue to develop young men.”
Although the Boozers are graduating, Columbus stands to return a talented squad that will feature four-star prospects Jaxon Richardson and Caleb Gaskins as well as three-star prospect Cello Jackson.
This story was originally published April 11, 2025 at 9:59 AM.
