This story originally appeared in the Winter 2026 edition of Hurricanes Magazine.

The Hurricanes are set to close out the regular season on Saturday at the Watsco Center against Louisville. Miami is currently ranked No. 22 in the AP Top 25 and enters Saturday’s game with a 24-6 overall record and a 13-4 record in ACC play. The Hurricanes are set to be the No. 3 seed in next week’s ACC Tournament.

Not long after men’s basketball coach Jai Lucas was hired last March, he made it clear: recruiting Florida’s top players and finding ways to keep them home was going to be a priority for him and his staff.

It’s a philosophy Hurricanes center Ernest Udeh Jr. can appreciate.

Though his basketball journey initially took him from Orlando’s Dr. Phillips to Kansas and later to TCU, the senior center now finds himself back in his home state playing for the Hurricanes.

It was important for him to play not far from home, and he said it’s up to him and fellow transfers Tre Donaldson, Jordyn Kee and Malik Reneau – all native Floridians – to help set the tone for Miami as the Lucas era begins.

“I feel like Florida basketball culture is better than anybody really. I don’t care if I’m being biased,” Udeh said. “Basketball is something that you really can never take away from us and it’s grown. Granted, we have a great football culture in this state, but at the end of the day, I feel like basketball is just up there with it.”

As the Hurricanes head into their regular season finale on Saturday against Louisville, Udeh and his Sunshine State teammates have made their presence felt.

Reneau and Donaldson are the Hurricanes’ leading scorers, averaging 19.1 and 16.6 points per game respectively. Udeh, meanwhile, is Miami’s leading rebounder averaging 9.5 boards and 7.1 points per game.

As Miami prepared to head into a crucial ACC stretch in February, Hurricanes Magazine caught up with Udeh to talk about his basketball journey, what it’s meant to become a Hurricane, and what he’d like to see Miami accomplish this season.

Here’s what he had to say, in his own words…

HM: This team has been able to get off to such a good start through the nonconference part of the schedule, despite the fact that it’s a whole new team. How were you able to build some of that chemistry so quickly?

EU: “I just think in the summer, the summer really helped us a lot. [Those of] us from Florida understand how the culture is down here, so it was already easy for us and we knew each other beforehand. This is basketball. We understand that maybe, you’re coming from a new place, or you’ve been here the previous year, whatever the case may be. The squad you’re with currently, we all have one goal in mind and that’s to be playing in April, you know what I mean? So, I feel like just us building that chemistry and that culture really was kind of easy. I don’t want to make it seem like it’s something that just any team can do, because you’d be surprised. You go to some places, and there’s really no culture. But we were able to do it. And I love my teammates. This is a really great team.”

HM: You said this is a great team and you love your teammates. What’s made you feel so good about the squad so early?

EU: “We understand what it takes to win. We’ve had our moments where, mentally, we’ve made mistakes. And obviously, you go to the drawing board, come in the next day for film and we talk about it, we go through it. But overall, you can tell this is a team that understands how to make winning plays, understands how to make that one more pass, understands how to, for me, set the screen in a specific spot … But, like I said, we know how to play the game of basketball well at a high level. Granted, we’re able to be in this position playing under [head coach Jai] Lucas, so, just overall, I feel like for us, it’ll be mental. It’s not anything skill-wise or athleticism that’s going to hold us back. Like Coach said before it’s going to be us.”

HM: You mentioned head coach Jai Lucas. What’s it been like to be part of his first team at Miami?

EU: “It’s really everything that I expected. As a player being recruited, you understand how this goes. Everyone’s going to tell you kind of what you want to hear. No one’s ever really going to just recruit you saying these terrible things and negatives about playing for them. But, with him, it was everything I expected. Being on the AAU circuit, I played against his Pop’s [John Lucas II] AAU team and obviously that kind of sprung a relationship. Him knowing me, and me knowing him, to now being recruited by his son, it’s just everything coming full circle.

“I tell people all the time, he’s a high-character individual. You see it with his family. I just knew for sure what he was telling me is what I was going to get. He wasn’t going to sugarcoat anything. He was going to give it to me straight. And again, that’s the kind of coach that I want to play for. It doesn’t matter if I like or don’t like what he’s saying. I know it’s going to be exactly what he’s telling me and that’s exactly what it’s going to be.”

HM: How would you describe his coaching style?

EU: “It’s authentic for sure. It’s no fluff, no fluff at all. Like I said, it’s something I mentioned before: I really respect him because he’s not going to make anything sound a specific way. And again, me being a high-level athlete, that’s something that you want out of a coach. … A coach, like I said, that’s not going to sugarcoat anything, that’s not going to make something seem like something else. He’s just going to give it to you straight and unfiltered. And he wants the best for all of us. He wants the best for me. He wants the best for this program, for this school. That’s something you can really appreciate and take in and you’re almost awed at.”

HM: What’s it been like for you to be able to come back and play in your home state and share the court with guys that are also from Florida?

EU: “Peaceful. Mentally peaceful. Basketball has taken me all across the globe, whether it be over in Europe, Hawaii, the Bahamas, Canada. I’ve been everywhere. And for me, just being able to play basketball at the highest, highest level at home, it’s something I wish every hooper is able to experience, you know what I mean? My family’s here; guys that I know; the culture, everything almost feels like second nature. I don’t have to think too much about it. Again, I’m just thinking about on-the-court stuff in totality and that’s just really been the best thing for me.”

HM: Let’s go back to the start of your basketball journey. What drew you to this game when you first started playing?

EU: “The competitiveness. Growing up, my mom, she was an athlete. We’re all athletic. I never forgot. I think the first time I started really paying attention to basketball was when LeBron [James] made his decision to go to the [Miami] Heat. My mom was a huge, huge, huge LeBron fan when I was growing up. You’d put the games on, and she’s screaming, yelling. … I just feel like it was the competitiveness that I liked. I played many different sports, everything you could think of. I played golf, kickball, ultimate frisbee. I mean, I played every sport you could think of and just for me, understanding myself and my abilities and what I would be best at and what I was interested in, it was basketball.”

HM: When did you start to see basketball was something you were good at and that it could give you a path to college?

EU: “Middle school.  I’m a very self-aware person and obviously, in elementary [school], I wasn’t really seeing the communication that others were receiving, as far as success for the game. But again, when I got to middle school, I was playing AAU and it started. I feel like that was where I really saw where I could take it.”

HM: When you step on the court now, what’s your favorite thing about playing basketball?

EU: “Playing for others, honestly. First and foremost, I know my [responsibility] on the court as a player, and it is to this team. I know my role as an individual, but at the end of the day, for me, I find the most joy when I see others succeed. If I’m able to set a screen for my guy and he can go get an easy bucket; if I’m able to plug and let Shelton [Henderson] get a straight-line drive for a dunk, those are really the plays that give me the most joy. Seeing my teammates have success in their own light and shine, just shine, honestly, it’s great. I’ve never been one to really want the spotlight on me. … I’ve never been that guy. I know my role and I know the value that I bring to the team, and ultimately, I find joy in that.”

HM: Are there any players whose game you like to study as you work to get better?

EU: “[LeBron James], that’s my GOAT. I love his game for sure. But obviously, just as far was watching, Deandre Ayton, DeAndre Jordan, of course, coming out of pick-and-roll actions; Bam [Adebayo] … I love how he’s transcended his game, given his opportunity and his role on the team. Again, for me, as a basketball player, I’m always looking to, of course, expand my game and do more in a sense with the team, with one goal of playing in April. I’m honed in on playing my role, so I’m never going to try to play out of what I bring to this team and my best abilities to this team. There’s multiple guys I like to study. … I’m always looking at film. I’m always looking at different ways that I can affect the game. Right now, I’m just making sure that I’m locked in on my role until its second nature.”

HM: Is it true you like to play drums? How did that come to be and is it something you still do from time to time?

EU: “Growing up, me and my siblings, we all sang in the church, and we were all in the choir and everything. And obviously, I have a love for music. … Without music, I generally don’t know what I would do in this life at all and I feel like for me, drums is a rhythm thing. Obviously, everyone sees me dancing and all. I have rhythm. I know I do, so for me, drums is something that I love. Of course, I still play and I don’t think it’s something that I’ll lose because it just more so finding the temp, finding the rhythm. Yeah, when I get my house one day, I’m definitely having the nicest drum set somewhere in there.”

HM: You mentioned wanting to make sure this team is still playing in April. What kind of March run do you think this team can put together?

EU: “Mind you, I’m never one to pay attention to the outside noise at all. But of course, I always love to give myself a reason to have a chip on my shoulder, and then the team’s [shoulder] as well. Obviously, I’ve heard multiple times from different [people], this expert or that that we’re not a tournament team. … Of course we’re a brand-new team. We’re coming together and sure, say what you need to say. I could care less if we were ranked or not. I would rather us make it all the way and no one’s really talking about us, but then when it comes [time] for the [selection] committee to make that decision, the proof is in the pudding.

“There’s nothing you can’t say for us to not achieve what we want to achieve and like I said before, I have full confidence in my team. Us not reaching what we want to achieve will literally be [because of] us. We can run with anybody in the country and the only thing that’s stopping us is us and ourselves. It’s not because we lack skill or lack this. Our coaches brought together an unbelievable group of guys, high-talent guys, high-skilled individuals. For us to simply achieve what we want to achieve, we have to lock in mentally, do the little things and the right things and make the right play every possession.”