Jai Lucas era begins as Miami Hurricanes beat Jacksonville 86-69 in season opener
The Jai Lucas era of Miami Hurricanes basketball officially began on Monday night with a fresh approach, an entirely overhauled roster, and an 86-69 victory against Jacksonville University.
For the first time in 15 years it was not Jim Larranaga leading UM in the season opener. The retired legendary coach, who took the Hurricanes to the school’s one and only Final Four two years ago, watched from a Watsco Center courtside seat as 36-year-old Lucas made his head coaching debut.
Lucas’ wife surprised him and presented him with the game ball in the locker room after the game.
“I’ve never seen my wife that fired up,” he said. “She’s been the biggest part of my journey, sharing this moment with me means the world.”
The first Lucas lineup of the season: guard Tre Donaldson (Michigan transfer), guard Tru Washington (New Mexico transfer), forward Shelton Henderson (freshman, originally a Duke commit), Malik Reneau (Indiana transfer), and Ernest Udeh Jr. (TCU transfer).
Lucas predicted that Udeh’s big personality would shine from Day One, and that it did. Udeh grabbed a microphone and addressed the crowd before the game, thanking fans for their support and urging them to keep coming back. He did his talking on the court, as well, putting up a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Udeh addressed the crowd after the game, too.
“I want to thank you all for coming, the Watsco Center had some great energy,” he said. “I appreciate you all from the bottom of my heart. We wanted to play good defense and get easy buckets in transition. Defense was the emphasis.”
He later told reporters: “We’re resilient. I’ve said all summer I like our chemistry. We’re bought in. We love each other, and when you have that, everything else takes care of itself.”
It is too early to tell how Lucas’ team will fare this season, but this much was apparent: the team is bigger than in years past, physical, and defensive-minded.
By halftime, the Hurricanes had made 19 trips to the free throw line and made 14 of their shots from the stripe. They finished the game 29 of 37 from the line.
“Our emphasis on free throws is a huge part of what we do,” Lucas said. “With our size and physicality, the way we’re built, we’ve got to get to the free throw line and capitalize. We made them [Monday], shot almost 80 percent from the line. If we do that every night, we’ll be right in the mix.”
They also held a 35-20 rebounding edge and outscored the Dolphins 44-30 in the paint.
Freshman Shelton Henderson, a 6-6 and 240-pound Houston-area native who originally committed to Duke and followed former Blue Devils assistant Lucas to Miami, showed why he was so highly rated.
He arrived at UM with an NBA body and made five of his first seven shots, scored 12 points in his first nine college minutes, slashing and driving to the basket. He got in foul trouble, so his minutes were limited, but he ended the night with 15 points.
Miami native Reneau was Miami’s top scorer with 20 points and was 10-of-12 from the free throw line.
“It was super special for everybody, not just me,” Reneau said. “Coach got his first win. Ernest got a double-double. There’s a lot of good play from us.”
Lucas said he expects Reneau to be the team’s leading scorer. “Part of that is the position he’s in as a bigger four and the advantage and mismatches he’ll have on a daily basis. We’ve got to get him to rebound some more. He can’t be at that position and get only two rebounds.”
Washington had 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. And Donaldson added 11 points, five rebounds and four assists.
All five Miami starters finished in double figures.
“Ernest played really, really well for us,” Lucas said. “I was yelling for him the whole game to get a rebound and I look up and he’s got 14. We had five guys in double figures, which is big. We turned the ball over a little too much. We shared it about right. We’ve been practicing so well for our identity and our standard. We’re almost there. We weren’t there, but it was our first game.”
Timo Malovec of Slovakia and Marcus Allen each scored seven points off the bench.
Jacksonville coach Jordan Mincy, a former University of Florida assistant who considers Lucas one of his best friends, embraced Lucas after the game and had high praise for the Hurricanes.
“Jai did an unbelievable job, had their guys ready to go,” Mincy said. “You see the adjustments they made in the second half. He’s going to do a really good job with this team this year and the future is extremely bright.”
Lucas was touched that Larranaga showed up to support him and the team.
“For Coach L and his wife to be there is huge,” he said. “Like I’ve always said, and I’ll say it again because it’s true, this is the program that he built. All the success. You look up and the banners all come from him. He welcomed me with open arms ever since I got here and to see him at the first game, him and his wife, was a blessing.”
The Hurricanes are back home Thursday night against Bethune-Cookman and Nov. 10 against Stetson. They play No. 3 Florida on Nov. 16 in Jacksonville.
This story was originally published November 3, 2025 at 10:50 PM.