Jon Scheyer is stepping outside of the Duke family to fill out his coaching staff in the clearest evidence yet that he'll have freedoms to run his program the way he sees fit.

Jai Lucas will join Duke's men's basketball staff as an assistant coach, filling out a staff that needed two hires in the last month.

Lucas, 33, joins Duke after spending the last two seasons at Kentucky. He's seen as a rising star in the coaching industry and was the lead recruiter for several of Kentucky's top commits, including Shaedon Sharpe.

Scheyer is taking over for coach Mike Krzyzewski, who announced his retirement last June after 42 seasons at Duke. Krzyzewski's staffs for the last two decades almost exclusively featured his former players.

Amile Jefferson, a former Duke player and captain, joined the program in June of last year and was promoted to assistant coach earlier this month after Nolan Smith departed for Louisville. Associate head coach Chris Carrawell has been on staff since 2018.

In addition to promoting Jefferson and hiring Lucas, Scheyer also hired Elon head coach Mike Schrage, a former Duke staffer, to a new position (special assistant to the head coach).