Kelly: What can become of Hurricanes basketball in Year 2 of Lucas era | Opinion
Either remove the team’s jerseys, or put a uniform on Jai Lucas and it would be virtually impossible to tell who is who on picture day if we didn’t already know.
The head coach of the University of Miami’s men’s basketball program might be turning 38 in December, but if he told the world he was in his late teens or early 20s, few would challenge that claim.
He’s young, and certainly looks it.
I can see Lucas walking into a hotel lobby on an ACC road trip and being mistaken for one of his players.
And it doesn’t help that Hurricanes basketball players call him by his first name, repeatedly, and speak about him as if he’s one of their peers.
“We have that respect level with him, to the point where our interactions are easy,” said freshman forward Caleb Gaskins, a McDonald’s High School All-American who led Miami Columbus High to its fifth consecutive state championship before joining Lucas’ second Hurricanes team this fall. “I think he’s OK with us calling him Jai?”
In this NIL era, which fuels the empowerment — if not entitlement — for college recruits and athletes, Lucas better be because that’s how a coach lands a talent such as Gaskins, the second-highest rated player in a program’s history.
But it’s not just Lucas’ appearance, and relatability that has benefitted the Hurricanes.
The University of Miami has benefited from their second-year head coach’s fresh approach, which has seemingly fostered an adaptable atmosphere and innovative mind.
Lucas, the son of former NBA player and coach John Lucas, is a dreamer, and that’s exactly why this former University of Texas player and assistant, Kentucky and Duke assistant, targeted the Hurricanes hoops program to cut his teeth in the family business.
His success navigating the transfer portal, experience doing battle in the recruiting wars and mastery of pitching NIL contracts worth millions to teenagers made him an attractive candidate for the Hurricanes.
He’s a new-era coach, which is exactly what UM needs at this stage, as the program attempts to pivot from a relevant college basketball program to a respected, revered one.
Lucas became the youngest men’s basketball coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference when he was hired by Miami in March of 2025 to replace legendary Jim Larranaga, who retired unexpectedly the day after Christmas, less than two years after leading the Hurricanes to the school’s first Final Four.
Larranaga, an old-school school with a father figure presence, was burnt out, and openly admitted to being frustrated, if not turned off by the NIL culture that infiltrated college athletics the past few years.
Lucas was tasked with a massive renovation project after the Hurricanes finished in last place in the ACC with a 3-17 conference record and 7-24 record overall after Larranaga abruptly retired.
Lucas put together a roster in one offseason using the transfer portal and guided it to a 26-9 record and the NCAA Tournament following a 13-5 mark in league play.
Miami’s 19-win improvement from the previous season tied the NCAA record for largest one-season program turnaround.
How did Lucas make it look easy in his inaugural season? And what now?
“I was blessed to have the group we had last year, and they got better throughout the year,” Lucas said. “They bought into the play, and gelled.”
The challenge moving forward is to continue creating a higher standard, and meeting it. To do that everyone - that includes the student population, and the local community - needs to buy into what he’s building, and selling.
“The next step is being able to continue to win at a high level, recruit at a high level, and add talent that people want to come see and come watch,” said Lucas, whose roster has been infused with nearly twice as much top-end talent as it had last season. “Hopefully in the next year or two we’ll be winning the ACC championship, [advancing to] the Sweet 16 and winning a tournament championship, Final Four and then national championship.
“There have been other programs that can show you can do it,” Lucas said, specifically mentioning the Texas Longhorns, the program he happened to play for, which like UM was once perceived as a football school. “We have the blueprint that we have to follow, but the challenge is to make it our own.”
This story was originally published October 15, 2026 at 4:28 PM with the headline "Kelly: What can become of Hurricanes basketball in Year 2 of Lucas era | Opinion."
