As long as the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils are in the running for the NCAA Tournament, Jai Lucas would continue to coach them if he could. According to Jon Scheyer, his current supervisor, it isn’t the reality of college basketball today. Lucas will depart from the championship squad he helped create to take a position as head coach of Miami after Duke’s regular season finale against North Carolina on Saturday. Three hours after Miami formally announced Lucas’ appointment as head coach, Scheyer, the third-year head coach at Duke, stated Thursday that Jai wanted to stay. “Jai did not make this choice. Here, he and I are trying to get together. After taking over the program after Mike Krzyzewski retired, Scheyer hired Lucas, a 36-year-old, as his first assistant coach three years ago. Scheyer and Lucas worked together to transform Duke (27-3, 18-1 ACC) into a squad that has already secured a portion of the ACC regular-season title this year and can win it all with a victory over UNC on Saturday. Before Duke’s matchup
with Florida State on Saturday, March 1, 2025, at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, assistant head coach Jai Lucas chuckles during warm-ups. Hyman, Ethan NewsObserver.com/ehyman However, regardless of their performance against N.C. State at noon on Saturday, Miami’s miserable season will come to an end with the Hurricanes (6-24, 2-17 ACC) in last place. Due to the increase to 18 schools,
the worst three teams in the conference will not be able to compete in the ACC Tournament for the first time. Therefore, starting on Sunday, Lucas will have a lot of work to do in order to create his roster for the upcoming season. In addition, he must complete a staff survey and begin researching the transfer site, where players will be made accessible on March 24.
Scheyer reiterated his assessment that the current state of affairs is “not ideal.” However, given the current structure of the sport, there was no other choice. Scheyer remarked, “This is one of those things where I think we can look at this and say no
.” We made the right choice, but to be honest, the timing wasn’t the best. In addition to recruiting new coaches, the transfer site will remain accessible during the competition. I can see why things are that way, but I believe that the tournament and the teams that are competing for a spot should be the main focus.
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