Jai Lucas was named the 14th head coach of the University of Miami men’s basketball program on March 6, 2025, and is in his second season at the helm.
In his first season, Lucas led one of the most remarkable turnarounds in college basketball as he guided the Hurricanes to a 26-9 record and a No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament following a 13-5 mark in league play. Miami’s 19-win improvement from the previous season tied the NCAA record for largest turnaround.
The Hurricanes finished the regular season with 24 wins, matching a program record, and posted 15 victories at the Watsco Center, the second-most in school history.
Lucas also became the fastest first-time head coach in the ACC to reach 20 wins since Bill Guthridge (North Carolina, 1997-98) and led Miami to its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
Lucas took over the reins of the Miami men’s basketball program after spending the past three seasons at Duke, where he served as assistant coach for one campaign before being elevated to associate head coach in 2023.
One of the nation’s most respected assistant coaches and recruiters, Lucas has spent 12 overall seasons on the staffs at Duke, Kentucky and Texas, helping those programs to seven NCAA Tournament appearances.
While at Duke, Lucas played a pivotal role in helping the Blue Devils secure the nation’s top recruiting class in both 2024 and 2025. As associate head coach, he served as the program’s defensive coordinator. The Blue Devils finished the 2024-25 season ranked seventh in the nation in scoring defense (62.8 points per game) and fourth nationally in field goal percentage defense (38.4). KenPom rated Duke as the fifth-best defense in the country with an adjusted defense efficiency rating of 90.8.
In 2023-24, Duke’s defense held opponents to 66.3 points per game, which ranked 28th nationally and second in the ACC, while the team posted records of 27-9 overall and 15-5 in conference to advance to the NCAA Elite Eight. In Lucas’ first season in Durham, the Blue Devils yielded just 63.6 points per game, a .406 field goal percentage and .305 three-point percentage – each top 30 nationally and each top two in the ACC, en route to capturing the ACC Tournament championship.
Before arriving in Durham, Lucas was on staff at Kentucky for two seasons, joining the Wildcats as recruiting coordinator in August 2020 before a promotion to assistant coach/recruiting coordinator for the 2020-21 season. In two seasons in Lexington, he helped UK sign five players who played in either the McDonald’s All-American or Jordan Brand Classic games and was instrumental in landing three student-athletes ranked in ESPN 100’s class of 2021 rankings and two in the 2002 class.
Lucas began his coaching career at his alma mater Texas, where he spent seven seasons on staff. The Houston native began as a special assistant with the program from 2013-15 before serving as director of basketball operations in the 2015-16 season. He was promoted to assistant coach in June 2016 and, in his first year, helped the Longhorns win 20 games and earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
In his first two recruiting cycles as an assistant coach, Lucas helped the Longhorns ink two Top-10 signing classes. The 2017 class was rated No. 5 nationally by Rivals while the 2018 class was tapped No. 8 in the country by ESPN and 247Sports. His debut season as an assistant also helped spark a three-year streak in which a Texas freshman was selected in the first round of the NBA Draft — Jarrett Allen (No. 22 to Brooklyn in 2017), Mohamed Bamba (No. 6 to Orlando in 2018) and Jaxson Hayes (No. 8 to Atlanta in 2019). was named before going No. 8 overall in 2019. The selection of Hayes — the Big 12 Freshman of the Year – meant Texas joined Duke and Kentucky as the only programs with a lottery pick in consecutive drafts.
Lucas played two seasons at Texas, helping the Longhorns earn back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids. He played at Florida as a freshman in 2007-08 and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. Lucas later spent three seasons in the professional ranks, including one in Latvia with BK Valmiera of the Baltic Basketball League (2011-12) and two in the NBA Development League with the Idaho Stampede (2012-13) and Canton Charge (2013).
Lucas was a McDonald’s All-American, a Jordan Brand Classic selection and a Parade All-America Second Team honoree as a senior at Bellaire (TX) High School in the Houston area. He started for three seasons and was a three-time District Player of the Year while leading Bellaire to three consecutive district titles.
Lucas graduated from Texas in 2011 with a degree in corporate communication. He and his wife Kori have two sons, Jaxin and Kalib, and he has a son, Xavier. His father, John II, is a former head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers who most recently served as an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets. The elder Lucas played 14 seasons in the NBA after earning All-America honors in both basketball and tennis at Maryland.
