Duke assistant Jai Lucas reportedly agrees to be new head coach at Miami, pending contract agreement

Duke associate head coach Jai Lucas has agreed to become the new men’s basketball coach at Miami, according to reports.

A contract has not yet been negotiated, but that is expected to be worked out in the weeks to come. One factor in finalizing a deal is determining when Lucas would leave Duke and start at Miami, reports the Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds. The Hurricanes’ season will end with a March 8 matchup with NC State, and they will not play in the postseason with a 6-21 overall mark and 2-14 record in the ACC.

However, the No. 3 Blue Devils are looking for a deep NCAA tournament run with a 23-3 record (15-1 in the ACC) and loaded roster that includes Player of the Year candidate Cooper Flagg and fellow freshman Kon Knueppel. If Duke were to advance all the way to the national championship game, Lucas could conceivably remain on Jon Scheyer’s staff until April 8.

Miami would almost certainly prefer its new head coach to be in place before March 24, when the transfer portal opens.

Lucas, 36, has been an assistant at Duke since 2022 and was hired by Scheyer when he became head coach. He has been an associate head coach on the Blue Devils’ staff for the past two seasons. Prior to his current stint in Durham, Lucas worked as an assistant at Texas and Kentucky, where he earned a reputation as an excellent recruiter.

The son of former NBA player and coach John Lucas, Jai Lucas played college basketball at Florida and Texas before playing professionally for four years in Latvia and the NBA’s G League.

Lucas would succeed Jim Larrañaga, who stepped down on Dec. 26 after 14 seasons in Coral Gables. Larrañaga compiled a 274-174 record, earning two ACC regular-season titles and six NCAA tournament bids. His 2022-23 team went 29-8 and advanced to the Final Four, where the Hurricanes lost to eventual national champion UConn.

Duke actually plays at Miami on Tuesday, but a contract with Lucas is not expected to be finalized by then.