UM men’s, women’s basketball teams debut revamped rosters on Monday
Even the most diehard University of Miami basketball fans will have a hard time recognizing the Hurricanes as they tip off the 2025-26 season at the Watsco Center on Monday.
The women’s team, which opens against Hofstra at 5 p.m., has just two players back from last year’s squad. The men’s team, which plays Jacksonville University at 8 p.m., has an entirely new roster and coaching staff, led by 36-year-old first-year head coach Jai Lucas.
There is not a single player left from the team Jim Larranaga coached before abruptly retiring midway through last season after 14 years on the UM sideline.
“A lot of teams have flipped over their rosters, and we can raise our hands and say we are one of those,” said UM athletic director Dan Radakovich. “So, looking forward to opening up that present. It’s like Christmas morning, we’ll see what we’re going to get.”
Asked if it is difficult to market two teams nobody knows anything about, Radakovich smiled and replied: “We will have a lot of scorecards available. When people walk in, we’ll let them know who the players are. It’s going to be a building process.”
Here’s what fans can expect from the new-look Hurricanes: Both teams will be bigger than they were last season.
Ra Shaya Kyle, a 6-6 center, transferred to Miami from the University of Florida. Before that, the Indiana native spent two years at Purdue.
“It’s a luxury to have a 6-6 center that can finish with both hands, run the floor, handle the ball and pass, and is proven,” said Tricia Cullop, in her second season as head coach of the women’s team. “She was in the SEC and averaged 15 [points] and eight [rebounds]. That’s pretty phenomenal in that league.”
Cullop added that although Kyle is new to the program, she has taken on a leadership role and mentors the younger players.
Kyle is coming off a career season with the Gators in which she started all 37 games, ranked first on the team and sixth overall in the SEC in rebounds per game. Kyle also was the Gators’ second-leading scorer on 59.5 percent shooting.
Cullop coached Kyle’s aunt, Tanika Mays, at the University of Toledo, and that familiarity is a big reason Kyle chose Miami.
“TC [Cullop] coached my aunt back in the day, so she had a chance to watch me grow up, and I had time to watch her coach, go to some games, and she always had a great culture with her teams,” Kyle said.
She hopes her experience in the Big Ten and SEC will help as she takes on ACC opponents.
“I’ve seen it all,” Kyle said. “I know the ACC is really fast, but I come from the SEC where it’s big, fast and strong, so I think that’s a benefit. It’s prepared me to guard some fives who are going to be out on the perimeter.”
She is among seven transfers to sign with the Hurricanes, joining Vittoria Blasigh (USF), Mya Kone (FIU), Israel national team guard Gal Raviv (Quinnipiac), Jessica Peterson (SMU), Amarachi Kimpson (UNLV), and Candace Kpetikou (Washington State).
Miami also landed the 10th-best 2025 recruiting class, per ESPN-W.
The freshman class includes Camille Williams, rated No. 36 on the list of top recruits, Danielle Osho (54), Natalie Wetzel (80), Meredith Tippner (91) and four-star Emanuella “Somo” Okolo.
Guards Ahnay Adams and Simone Pelish are the only returnees. With so many new faces, Cullop used community service and cooking competitions to develop team chemistry. Players participated in a Halloween Bake Off on Friday. The team of Kpetikou and Kone won with their red velvet eyeball cake pops.
Meanwhile, Lucas has been establishing a bigger, more physical style for the men’s team, which finished 3-17 in ACC play and 7-24 overall last season, just two years removed from the Canes’ historic Final Four run.
Lucas was a highly respected recruiter as an assistant with Texas, Kentucky and Duke, and brought in a Top 20 recruiting class, led by 6-6 and 240-pound forward Shelton Henderson, who originally committed to Duke, and 6-4 guard Dante Allen, son of Miami Heat assistant Malik Allen.
Transfers include 6-3 guard Tre Donaldson from Michigan, 6-9 forward Malik Reneau from Indiana, 6-11 center Ernest Udeh, Jr. from TCU, 6-4 guard Tru Washington from New Mexico, 6-7 guard/forward Marcus Allen from Missouri, and 6-3 guard Jordyn Kee from Georgia.
“We’re definitely going to hang our hat on defense,” said Udeh, Jr. “We’re very excited to showcase that starting Monday.”
Udeh, Jr., added that he, Donaldson, and Reneau, all of whom are Florida natives and know each other well, have something to prove to doubters.
“Tre has a chip [on his shoulder], Malik has a chip, I have a chip, and that just adds more fuel to the fire. Obviously, we want to win, then you put the icing on top and add sparkles and dazzles, it fuels us even more.”
The Canes also have some international flavor with Slovakian forward Timotej Malovec, Turkish forward Salih Altuntas and Israeli guard Noam Dovrat.
“I’m excited about the season, excited about where we are, where we’re headed,” Lucas said. “We’ve had good practices. We had two really good scrimmages, got a chance to see different people out here together, different lineups and I am just excited to get ready for Monday. First game at the Watsco [Center]. New team, new everything.”
He urged the local fan base and student body to come out and support the Hurricanes.
“I think there’s excitement because of something new and unknown and people are excited about something different,” Lucas said. “But also, you have to put something out there that they want to come see. I think we’ll play an exciting brand that will be fun to watch. When you watch us, you’re going to see our grit and our competitive spirit.”
Associate coach Charlton “CY” Young, a Miami native with three decades of experience, said it is wrong to call this Hurricanes team a rebuild.
“It’s not really a rebuild; it’s us building what Coach Larranaga had already started,” Young said. “You’ve got to give Coach Larranaga and his staff a tremendous amount of credit. I’ve battled with those guys my whole life, and they were really, really, really good. So, the program is on solid ground.”
Young said there is “still a bit of a buzz” around the nation as he recruits for the Hurricanes.
“Miami is a national brand,” he said. “You can go to Houston, D.C., L.A., and people know The U. A lot of that is because of our football program. I’m a diehard UM football guy, grew up across from the stadium, but UM basketball has been very, very influential, too, with Leonard Hamilton years ago and then Coach Larranaga going to the Final Four.”
With the staff and roster Lucas has brought in, Young feels good days are ahead.
“Coach Lucas feels like Miami has been close to getting over the hump, and we feel we’re the staff that can help take that next step,” he said.
The Watsco Center will not be cleared between games. Women’s ticket holders may sit at the top of Sections 117/118 for the men’s game, or may show their ticket at the box office for a $5 men’s ticket if they leave and re-enter.
This story was originally published November 2, 2025 at 8:23 AM.