When the Duke Blue Devils come to town, there will always be storylines and a big media presence. That was certainly the case last night when the Blue Devils soundly defeated the Miami Hurricanes 97-60. But the attention wasn’t as nearly as focused on the players, instead, it was on Duke associate head coach Jai Lucas.
Earlier in the week, CanesInSight was the first to report that Lucas would become Miami’s next head coach. Miami and Lucas are still negotiating a contract, meaning nothing is final yet, according to The Associated Press.
After the game, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer and freshman guards Isaiah Evans and Kon Knueppel fielded questions from media members about Lucas.
“Jai is a special coach. We’ve been through a lot together for three years. He’s everything [you can want in a coach], attention to detail, great with relationships, great on a floor, and so he’s a great coach,” Scheyer said.
However, when Evans and Knueppel were asked how Lucas helped their development at Duke, Scheyer answered instead.
“We’re going to talk about our team. Coach Lucas is the best. I think these guys will tell you the impact that he’s made. It’s not our news to share. We’ll let Miami handle that.”
Miami interim head coach Bill Courtney was asked if he addressed his team about the hiring.
“No, not one bit,” Courtney said. “Again, I didn’t know anything was official.”
For freshman guards Jalil Bethea and Divine Ugochukwu, they didn’t know anything about the situation.
“I don’t really focus on that stuff. I just focus on hooping,” said Bethea. Ugochukwu followed that up by saying, “Rumors are rumors.”
“It’s not really a big change for us. The main thing is the game. I’m sure guys, especially the young guys have thought about it. It’s almost impossible to not hear the noise,” Courtney said.
With nothing official from Hurricanes Athletics yet, media speculation will continue to swirl. But for now, the Hurricanes are focused on one thing – basketball.