Jai Lucas leads Miami to dramatic turnaround, but Canes still hunting for respect
Jai Lucas, the University of Miami’s 37-year-old first-year coach, has already done the unthinkable.
With six games to go in the regular season, he has flipped a 7-24 team that was dead last in the Atlantic Coast Conference last season to a near-lock for the NCAA Tournament with a 21-5 record, including 10-3 in the ACC, which is more conference wins than the Hurricanes had combined the previous two seasons.
Miami sits in third place in the ACC standings behind No. 3 Duke and No. 14 University of Virginia, whom the Hurricanes face on the road Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN2).
Lucas became the fastest first-time head coach in the ACC to reach 20 wins since Bill Guthridge at UNC in the 1997-98 season. And, he already has more victories in his debut season than any coach in UM history, surpassing the legendary Jim Larranaga, who went 20-13 his first year with the Hurricanes.
All that said, Miami remains unranked and seeks to solidify its tournament resume heading into the game Saturday against the Cavaliers.
Despite back-to-back wins over then-No. 11 North Carolina and NC State, the Canes failed to crack the AP Top 25 this week, finishing six spots shy among the “Also Receiving Votes” teams. The Tar Heels, whom Miami beat and who are three spots below UM in the ACC standings, are ranked No. 16.
“We still haven’t done anything, nothing’s set in stone,” Lucas said on Friday before the team headed to Virginia. “Everything we want, we still have to go get. It’s not like we’re sitting here in first place. It’s not like we’re a top-10 team. It’s not like we’re sitting here as a No. 1 seed. So, if you’re not in those situations, you can’t rest on anything, especially us. We have to be the ones that always hunt.”
UM basketball teams have historically been overlooked by voters from the national media. The 2021-22 Hurricanes team that reached the Elite Eight went the entire regular season unranked. The 2022-23 team that made a historic Final Four run was unranked early but by mid-February, at 20-5 and 11-4 in the ACC, was ranked No. 15 in the AP poll.
Lucas was not among the 15 names on the Naismith Coach of the Year Watch List released on Friday, despite leading the Hurricanes to one of the most dramatic turnarounds in the nation. Virginia’s first-year coach Ryan Odom is on the list.
Miami basketball is still under the radar, which is helping fuel players as they head into the final stretch.
“We’re happy, but we’re not satisfied; we have a chip on our shoulders,” said senior guard Tre Donaldson, after scoring a career-high 32 points in a one-point win over Virginia Tech Tuesday night. “We’re just going to continue to push to get better as a team and prove everybody wrong and go hunting.”
Up next is a daunting test Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena, which is sold out and will be rocking as retired legendary coach Tony Bennett is being honored with the dedication of the court.
Virginia is 23-3, second in the ACC at 11-2, has won seven consecutive games and is 12-1 at JPJ this season. The Cavaliers are averaging 81.9 points, the most since 85 points per game in 2000-01.
“They’re one of the best teams we’ve played all year,” Lucas said. “They’re better than Florida when we played them. Florida is playing better now, but they are better than Florida was then… This is a high caliber team that can be in the Sweet 16. So, it’s good to see where you are at this point in the season.”
The Hurricanes average 82.9 points per game, lead the ACC in field-goal percentage at 51% and rank second in offensive rebounds behind Virginia.
Miami’s leading scorer Malik Reneau, who is averaging 19.7 points per game, is expected to be ready to play after heading to the locker room with a severe headache during the second half of the Virginia Tech game. He returned for the final few minutes but was not himself.
“He’s doing a lot better,” Lucas said. “He really, really rallied just to get back out there with everything he had to go through, getting IV, doing whatever to get back on the court. We’re still trying to figure out what happened. He has had it before. It could have been dehydration, lack of sleep. We’ll try to better hydrate him and get him ready for the game on Saturday.”
Among the Cavaliers players to watch is 6-9 Belgian freshman Thijs De Ridder, who averages 15.9 points and 6.5 rebounds. He previously played for Bilbao in Spain’s professional league.
“You can tell he’s a longtime pro who plays high level basketball,” Lucas said of De Ridder. “He doesn’t get sped up. He’s physical, got great size, plays inside, outside. He plays with great poise and patience.”
Lucas expects an electric atmosphere at the game.
“Virginia is one of the top four venues to play at in the ACC, behind Cameron, and NC State, which is always crazy,” he said. “I put Virginia right there, with Louisville and Carolina also in that breath. They have basketball tradition and pride in the university. We’ve been able to win on the road in tough environments. It shouldn’t be shocking to us.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2026 at 3:21 PM.