The Duke Blue Devils are losing one of their coaches after the season.
Duke assistant coach Jai Lucas has been hired by the Miami Hurricanes to serve as their next head basketball coach. He won’t begin with Miami until after Duke’s season has ended, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello. A formal announcement is expected to be made on Thursday.
Lucas, 36, has been on Duke’s coaching staff since the 2022-23 season. He played his college ball at both Florida and Texas and then went into coaching at Texas after his playing career ended.
Lucas began as a coach with Texas in 2016, then went to Kentucky and eventually Duke. Now he will be getting his first shot as a head coach.
Lucas comes from a prominent basketball family. His father John Lucas II was an NBA player and later coached three different NBA teams. His older brother John Lucas III played at Baylor and Oklahoma State and has served as an NBA assistant coach.
Miami is finishing out an awful season. The Hurricanes fired Jim Larranaga after a 4-8 start and have since gone 2-16 under Bill Courtney, for a putrid 6-24 record.
Miami had success under Larranaga prior to his firing. They made the NCAA Tournament six times and finished the season ranked in the AP Top 25 four times in Larranaga’s 13-plus seasons as their head coach.
