Jai Lucas adds Young, Pastrana to Miami coaching staff, Dante Allen commits to Canes
New University of Miami men’s basketball coach Jai Lucas continues to keep things local with the addition of two South Florida natives to his coaching staff and the commitment of former Riviera Prep star Dante Allen to the Hurricanes 2025-26 team.
Charlton “C.Y.” Young, a Miami Gardens Carol City High legend with three decades of coaching experience, will be Lucas’ associate coach. He also hired Erik Pastrana as associate coach. They join Andrew Moran, the Miami Columbus High coach, who last week was hired as an assistant coach and director of player development for the Hurricanes.
Young was associate head coach at the University of Missouri, where he helped lead the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament twice in three years. He previously spent nine years on Leonard Hamilton’s staff at Florida State from 2013 to 2022. During that time, the Seminoles won an ACC regular-season championship (2020), went to three Sweet Sixteens and the program’s first Elite Eight in 25 years.
His coaching career also included stops at Georgia Tech, Auburn, Jacksonville, Northeastern, Tennessee-Chattanooga, and his alma mater, Georgia Southern, where he was head coach from 2009 to 2013. He won a state title with Carol City under coach Ernie Bell.
He has been a part of nine NCAA Tournaments and two regular-season conference titles, while coaching 15 NBA Draft picks, including Patrick Williams, Scottie Barnes and Thaddeus Young.
“C.Y. is a South Florida legend with 30 years’ experience as a head coach and assistant coach,” Lucas said. “His extensive knowledge of the game, coupled with his strong national relationships, make him an invaluable asset to the program. I am thrilled to have someone with such a wealth of experience by my side.”
Pastrana, who attended Wellington High, spent the past three seasons as an assistant at Georgia.
The Bulldogs recorded 20-win seasons in two of the three years Pastrana was on staff and made their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2015 this past season.
“Erik is someone I have always wanted to have on my staff,” Lucas said. “His work ethic, communication skills and ability to build relationships with the players will be crucial to our program’s success. To bring him home to South Florida was a no brainer.”
Pastrana’s previous Division I stops include Oklahoma State, Florida Atlantic, Florida International and Stephen F. Austin. During his tenure at Stephen F. Austin, the Lumberjacks produced three straight Southland Players of the Years and made three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
Dante Allen commits to Miami
Miami native Dante Allen, a four-star shooting guard and the son of Heat assistant coach Malik Allen, de-committed from Villanova and announced on social media that he will play for UM, becoming the first high school recruit to commit to the Canes since Lucas took over the program in March.
Allen led Riviera Prep to back-to-back state titles his sophomore and juniors seasons before transferring to Montverde Academy for his senior year. He averaged 21 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 3 assists for Riviera and was the two-time Miami Herald 4A-2A Player of the Year.
Allen, 6-4, joins his former Nightrydas AAU coach Moran at Miami. He is ranked No. 41 on the ESPN 100 list for the Class of 2025 and No. 42 by 247 Sports.
Kimpson transfers from UNLV to Miami
UM women’s coach Tricia Cullop announced the addition of Amarachi Kimpson, a 5-foot-8 guard from Little Elm, Texas, who spent the past two seasons at UNLV.
She earned All-Mountain West First Team honors as a sophomore, starting all 33 games and averaging 14.5 points on 50.7 percent shooting. The year before, she was named Mountain West Freshman of the Year, as UNLV went 30-3 and won the conference championship.
“Amarachi can score at all three levels,” said Cullop. “She has a quick first step and is an efficient scorer who shot 50 percent from the field the last two seasons. She finished the season second in the Mountain West in field goal percentage and ranked tenth in the conference in scoring. With her speed and quickness, she has the ability to positively impact both ends of the floor.”
Kimpson is the fifth transfer to sign with the Hurricanes this offseason, joining Vittoria Blasigh, Mya Kone, Gal Raviv, and Jessica Peterson.
This story was originally published April 15, 2025 at 2:49 PM.