It’s the start of a new era for the University of Miami men’s basketball program. The winningest coach in program history, Jim Larrañaga, stepped down in the middle of his 14th season, only two seasons after the first Final Four in program history.
“There’s one thing you’ve got to constantly ask yourself: Are you going to give everything you have — the commitment it deserves, 100% of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually?” Larrañaga said to reporters. “Quite frankly, I’ve tried to do that through my life and my time here. But I’m exhausted. I’ve tried every which way to keep this going.”
“I owe it to our student athletes, our staff, and the University of Miami to make this move when my heart is no longer in the game,” Larrañaga said. “The university needs a new leader of the program, one who is adept at embracing the new world of intercollegiate athletics.”
A disheartening season of ’Canes basketball followed. There was no postseason for the Hurricanes this year. Miami didn’t win in the ACC for more than a month and finished at the bottom of the ACC standings. Interim head coach Bill Courtney’s efforts did little to slow the spiral of a failing team.
“Going into this year, I felt like, ‘Ok, we need to get back to where we were.'” Larrañaga said. “I have a great group of kids, so it’s not their problem. It’s the system now — or the lack of a system. I didn’t know how to navigate through this.”
Larrañaga followed the trend of experienced ACC coaches retiring, joining the likes of Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Virginia’s Tony Bennett and most recently, Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton.
“What shocked me was after we made it to the Final Four, just 18 months ago, the very first time I met with the players, eight of them decided they were going to put their name in the portal and leave,” Larrangaga said. “I said, ‘Don’t you like it here?’ They said, ‘No, I like it here, it’s great.’ But the opportunity to make money someplace else created a situation that you have to begin to ask yourself, as a coach, what is this all about? The answer is that it’s become professional.”
So Miami brought in someone who has the knowledge to navigate the new college basketball landscape — only he’s a stark contrast from his predecessor.
Enter new Miami basketball head coach Jai Lucas.
Lucas has a ton of work to do to get Miami back on track. Miami has already lost commits Matthew Able and Ben Ahmed. As of now, the Hurricanes have no high school recruits coming in next season, meaning Lucas will have to start from scratch with his new UM team. With the new landscape of college basketball, though, this is not uncommon.
“This is pretty cool,” Lucas said. “It’s like a deja vu moment. I’ve dreamed of this moment my whole life, and this is exactly what it looked like, so this is pretty amazing.”
Lucas has been around basketball his entire life. His father, John Lucas II, coached three NBA teams and had a long and successful career in both the NBA and NCAA.
Larrañaga was 75 when he decided to step down. Lucas is just 36 years old. Larrañaga was on his second head coaching gig before Lucas was even born. Unlike Larrañaga, who had almost 50 years of head coaching experience before retiring, Lucas has none. Lucas, however, does feature an impressive background of schools he previously worked and coached at. Lucas was at Texas for seven seasons before spending two at Kentucky and his recent two at Duke with Jon Scheyer.
“Coach Lucas is the best. I think these guys would tell you the impact that he’s made,” Scheyer said. “Jai is one of my best friends in the world. We are always going to be great and be able to navigate this. He’s a terrific coach, terrific person.”
The main driver of Lucas’s hire at Miami is his recruiting ability within the high school ranks and the transfer portal. Since Lucas transferred from Florida to Texas during his collegiate playing career, he’s familiar with the transferring process and how the transfer portal can be utilized by both players and coaches in the modern game.
Lucas played a part in the Blue Devils beating out the Hurricanes for their pledges of two highly-touted recruits from South Florida who attended local Miami Columbus High. Cameron and Cayden Boozer, sons of NBA star and Miami native Carlos Boozer are set to play for Duke next season.
The ‘Canes have already reaped the benefits of Lucas’s recruiting prowess, landing five star prospect Shelton Henderson who decommitted from Duke to play for Miami this fall.
Lucas’s skill and influence in the recruiting world and his insight into NIL are the main reasons he’ll be the leader of Miami basketball for the foreseeable future.
Another reason that Miami fans can be excited about Lucas is his keen defensive mind. As the de facto defensive coordinator, Lucas helped to lead the Duke defense to the fourth-best adjusted defensive efficiency mark in the country this past regular season, according to KenPom, a college basketball statistics tracker.
Among Division I teams, Miami’s defense finished the 2024-25 season as the worst Power Four defense in the nation with an adjusted defensive efficiency ranking of 336 out of 364.
“Defensively, our resistance to keep the other team out of the paint will be relentless,” Lucas said. “Our pursuit to make sure that every shot is contested will be relentless … I’m a defensive guy, so I just believe it is what wins championships, and that’s what we will hang our hat on.”
Miami went from having one of the oldest and most experienced coaches in college basketball to one of the youngest and most unproven. Lucas has tremendous shoes to fill as Larrañaga’s successor.
Only two seasons ago, Miami basketball was one game away from the National Championship. Lucas hopes to guide Miami through the uncertain waters of a new era of basketball in Coral Gables and back to our old heights.
“I am incredibly grateful and honored to be the next head coach at the University of Miami,” Lucas said. “Miami has everything you need to compete at the highest level — elite academics, a passionate fan base, and a commitment to excellence in athletics. Beyond that, the city of Miami has a rich culture and energy that makes this an incredibly special place. The history, diversity and passion for sports here are second to none.”
“I look forward to building on an incredible foundation and leading this program into an exciting new era. My family and I can’t wait to get to Coral Gables and get to work.”