The Miami Hurricanes are going dancing.
Following a historic 25-8 season under first-year head coach Jai Lucas, the Hurricanes men’s basketball team is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2023.
The last time the Canes were in March Madness, the team — led by Jordan Miller and Isaiah Wong — went to the Final Four for the first time in program history.
The Hurricanes will be a seventh seed in March Madness, facing the No. 10 seed Missouri Tigers in St. Louis, Mo. on Friday, March 20. Tip-off at the Enterprise Center is to be announced.
The Tigers finished the season 20-12 and 10-8 in SEC play, losing to Kentucky 78-72 in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
Just a year ago, the Hurricanes finished the 2024-25 campaign with a 7-24 record, the worst season in the program’s history — on par with the 1971 team that saw men’s basketball dropped by the University the next year.
On March 6, 2025, Lucas took over as the program’s 14th head coach, looking to bring men’s basketball back to its former glory.
The program did a total rehaul, having zero players from last year’s team in this current rendition of the Canes. Connected by their Florida roots, players like Tre Donaldson and Malik Reneau led Miami to a third place finish in the ACC.
Reneau, a senior transfer from Indiana, earned First Team All-ACC honors, averaging 18.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Donaldson, a Michigan transfer, was named Second Team All-ACC, finishing his senior year averaging 16.5 points and 5.8 assists.
The Canes won 25 games in Lucas’ first year, the most by a rookie Miami head coach. After taking down Louisville in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament, UM lost to Virginia in the semifinals.
A run in the NCAA Tournament is unlikely, but never impossible in March. Lucas has this Miami program well ahead of schedule and has the potential to take this team to a level it hasn’t seen since the Hurricanes incredible run three years ago.
