When Jon Scheyer missed a game in early January, one of the things he said about the way his coaching staff handled the game at SMU was, “I have head coaches on my staff,” even though none of the Blue Devils’ four assistants has been a head coach.
That much appears soon to change.
Duke associate head coach Jai Lucas will reportedly be Miami’s next head coach. Reports emerged, first from CanesInSight, several hours before Duke’s game against Illinois that Lucas had agreed to replace Jim Larranaga, who abruptly retired in late December.
The timing is “not ideal by any means,” Scheyer said on the ACC teleconference. Lucas, 36, has been Duke’s defensive coordinator for the last three seasons; Duke finished 16th in defensive efficiency (KenPom) each of the last two seasons, and is currently fourth in the country.
“Clearly, this wasn’t thought out well enough,” Scheyer said on Monday morning via Zoom. “Look, he’s one of my best friends in the world. Me and him are always going to be great. Me and him are always going to be able to navigate this.
“He’s a terrific coach, terrific person. But, you know, there’s more that’s involved than just Jai and I.”
It makes sense for Miami to want a hire in place sooner rather than later. Its interim coach, Bill Courtney, took over when the Hurricanes were 4-8; they’re 6-21 and in last place (by two games) in the ACC standings. Miami’s situation doesn’t appear to be like Virginia’s, in which the Cavaliers’ interim coach (Ron Sanchez) is a candidate to keep the job.
At the crux of wanting a hire in place is the transfer portal window. That opens on March 24 and runs through April 22 — a 30-day window in which a first-year coach can rebuild, retool and reshape the roster he inherits.
The best example of that in the country is probably in the ACC, a game behind Duke in the standings, with what Pat Kelsey has done at Louisville with a roster comprised of zero returning players.
But March 24 is the day after the second round of the NCAA tournament. Duke is obviously primed for a deep run, and Lucas’ defensive acumen would be paramount to the Blue Devils reaching their ceiling and a potential sixth national championship.
And then there’s the awkwardness of Duke’s next game — which is Tuesday night at Miami.
“Our thing is to block it out and stay in the moment,” Scheyer said. “Until anything becomes final, or if and when that happens. But it’s not ideal. … It’s not ideal by any means.”
Scheyer sidestepped a question about whether he could see a scenario playing out in which Lucas isn’t with Duke’s staff in the NCAA tournament.
“For me, it’s unusual times,” Scheyer said. “And Jai and I have been completely connected with all of this. Until something is final and done, I’m not going to speculate on what may or may not happen.
“I can tell you Jai and I, we started this thing three years ago and our intention is to finish it. But again, I don’t want to get into that until I know something is final and done, where we’ll have to cross that bridge when the time comes.”
Lucas, 36, arrived at Duke about a month after Scheyer officially became Duke’s head coach. His hiring was a break from a trend of more than two decades — Mike Krzyzewski had stuck to hiring former Duke captains as his assistant coaches, and Lucas came to Duke without any ties to the program (though his family is from Durham, and Lucas Middle School in Durham is named for his grandfather).
Lucas played at Texas, where he also began his coaching career. He went from there to Kentucky for two seasons.
In those early months of Scheyer’s tenure, three hires were made to the staff — in chronological order, Mike Schrage as special assistant to the head coach, Lucas as assistant coach (he was promoted to associate head coach in June 2023), and Rachel Baker as the program’s general manager.
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