The Miami Hurricanes are targeting Duke associate head coach Jai Lucas as their next head coach, according to multiple reports on Saturday.
Lucas, 36, has been with Duke since May 2022 and was promoted from assistant to associate head coach in June 2023. Considered a top recruiter, he also is the defensive coordinator for the No. 3 Blue Devils (24-3, 15-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who visit Miami (6-21, 2-14) on Tuesday.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said after the team’s 110-67 win over Illinois in New York on Saturday that Lucas is head coaching material.
“It’s part of why I hired him. The job he’s done for us has been incredible,” Scheyer said. “Any report or anything that’s out there, I’m just getting wind of it now. We’ll cross that bridge and figure it out.”
Lucas’ availability could be an issue. Duke still has four regular-season games, the ACC tournament and a lock on a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Miami has four regular-season games, is last in the league and isn’t guaranteed an ACC tournament berth.
The Hurricanes have been looking for a permanent head coach since Jim Larranaga suddenly stepped down on Dec. 26 after a 4-8 start (0-1 ACC). Bill Courtney was named the interim for the rest of the season.
Larranaga is the winningest coach in Miami history (274-174) and was in his 14th season. The Hurricanes made six NCAA Tournament appearances under Larranaga, advanced to the Sweet 16 twice, the Final Four once and won two ACC regular-season titles.
Lucas is the son of John Lucas, a former All-American at Maryland and later an NBA player, head coach and assistant. Jai Lucas played at Florida from 2007-08 and after transferring, for Texas from 2009-11.
Lucas came to Duke from Kentucky, where he was recruiting coordinator in August 2020 before adding assistant coaching duties for the 2020-21 season.
Lucas, a Houston native, graduated from the University of Texas in 2011 and spent seven seasons on the staff. He rose from special assistant to director of basketball operations to assistant coach in June 2016.
