It was bound to happen at some point. Jon Scheyer not only played for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke, but he was handpicked to be his successor after 40 years on the job three offseason ago. With Duke on top of the college basketball world this season, it was not much of a surprise to see someone off his staff get poached. Top assistant Jai Lucas will leave Duke after the tournament to take over at Miami.
Lucas first came to Duke by way of Kentucky after having served on John Calipari's Wildcats staff from 2020 to 2022. Interestingly enough, Lucas was the first Duke assistant to be hired by the program who did not play for the Blue Devils in 30 years. This was a big move made by Scheyer and it paid off brilliantly. Unfortunately, Lucas is going to be taking over a rival team in the ACC with Miami.
No doubt about it, Lucas has big shoes to fill. He has to replace the iconic Jim Larrañaga down in Coral Gables, a man who famously took Miami and George Mason to Final Fours when neither the Hurricanes or Patriots were thought to do much in their tournaments of note. Miami became a force to be reckoned with under Larrañaga in recent years, but Father Time eventually gets the best of us.
ESPN's Jeff Borzello reported on Wednesday evening that Lucas will put pen to paper on Thursday.
NEWS: Duke associate head coach Jai Lucas has signed a deal to become the next head men’s basketball coach at Miami, sources told ESPN. Expected to be announced on Thursday. Lucas will leave Duke and join Miami after the conclusion of the regular season, sources told ESPN. pic.twitter.com/uvdmDaSrzo
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) March 5, 2025
The great news is he will be remain part of the Duke staff for the rest of the team's postseason run.
Jon Scheyer loses top Duke assistant Jai Lucas to Miami HC vacancy
Entering his first season at Miami, Lucas will be turning 37 right ahead of conference play next season. He split his college ball at Florida and Texas during his playing career. The Houston native returned to his alma mater in 2013 after his playing career ran its course to serve on his mentor Rick Barnes' staff. He was later retained by Shaka Smart when he took over the Longhorns back in 2015.
We are looking at an up-and-coming head coach who has been mentored and served under the likes of Barnes, Smart, Calipari and now Scheyer. While he never served under Krzyzewski, nobody who did not go to school in Durham did that for 30 years. This is an impressive resume Lucas is bringing with him to Coral Gables. The Miami program had been in a state of flux all year, but this is a solution.
Overall, any time a team that has been without a head coach for as long as Miami has, you have to believe that every stone was turned over during the coaching proces. Miami getting out ahead of this and on the precipice of announcing the hire should help in recruitment right away. All they need to do is have their prospective recruits tune in to see how Duke is doing, and to see their new head coach.
Obviously, Lucas has big shoes to fill down in Miami, but this hire seems to be one well thought out.