Scheyer thinks Jai Lucas is ready to be a head coach at the high major level.

It’s recently been reported that Duke basketball associate head coach Jai Lucas is set to become the next head coach at the University of Miami. Lucas has been with the Duke program since 2022 and was previously an assistant at Texas and Kentucky.

Lucas was promoted to associate head coach in 2023 with Duke.

The deal is not set in stone yet, but the Associated Press recently reported that Lucas will be the next head coach of the Hurricanes pending the completion of contract negotiations.

Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer found out of the news after the Blue Devils’s monstrous 110-67 victory over Illinois at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

“Any report or anything that’s out there, you know, I’m just getting wind of it now, so we’ll cross that bridge and figure it out,” Scheyer said after the victory over the Fighting Illini.

Although he’d just found out about the expected hire, Scheyer gave praise to Lucas on air and thinks he’s ready to be a head coach for a power conference team.

“Absolutely, he’s a head coach,” Scheyer said. “No question about it. It’s part of why I hired him, you know, and the job he’s done for us has been incredible.”

“But I can tell you, 100% Jai is an amazing coach. He’s been great for these guys, and we’ll continue to move forward together and figure all that out. But he’s, he’s terrific man, all across the board, he’s great.”

Lucas has been an elite recruiter through his time as an assistant and has been a big reason why Duke has brought in the #1 ranked recruiting classes for the classes of 2022, 2024, and 2025, along with the #2 ranked class in 2023.

Some of the top names that Lucas has recruited over his time have been Cooper Flagg, Shaedon Sharpe, Shelton Henderson, Khaman Maluach, the Boozer twins, and several more.

Lucas will likely have to use his recruiting prowess in the transfer portal next season to overhaul the Hurricanes roster in a season where Miami is at the bottom of the ACC with a 6-21 overall record and 2-14 record in the ACC.

Miami has one commit in the 2025 class currently, four-star shooting guard Matthew Able.

Cooper Flagg could very likely hold more than his own weight in the NBA today, but by rule, he must be one year removed from high school before going pro.

So, he opted to go to Duke, and while most are predicting he’s a one-and-done, that may actually not be the case.

In a recent interview with “The Athletic,” Flagg, projected to be the No. 1 selection in this summer’s NBA Draft, made a stunning proclamation about his basketball future.

“I still feel like a kid,” he continued. “This is the only way I’ve ever known college. That’s how I see it. I really wouldn’t know how kids felt before, and if this feels different, if this feels more like being a professional. I mean, it’s the same thing for kids in high school, too, getting paid a lot of money. I don’t know. I feel pretty normal.”

The 6’9″ forward has been dominating as part of the No. 4 team in the country, averaging 19.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest. He’s started all of his 24 games played this season, shooting 48.3% from the floor and 37.0% from deep.

Duke’s Instagram handle on Wednesday posted the first look at the blue jersey of its most hyped prospect for the upcoming season, Cooper Flagg, during a practice session. He will be joining other stars in the program like Tyrese Proctor, Mason Gillis and Caleb Foster for the 2024-25 season.

The No. 1-ranked prospect in the 2024 class by 247Sports, Flagg went to Nokomis Regional in Newport, Maine, where he averaged 20.5 points per game. He led his high school team to the Class A state championship and was named the Maine Gatorade Player of the Year.

Cooper Flagg then joined Montverde (Florida) Academy. The semifinalist for the Naismith Prep Player of the Year (2023), Flagg averaged 9.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game in his first season for Monteverde.

On Friday, five-star twins Cameron and Cayden Boozer — the No. 2 and No. 21 players, respectively, in the 2025 recruiting class — announced their long-awaited commitments to Duke, picking the Blue Devils over fellow finalists Miami and Florida.

In doing so, both continue the family legacy that their father, Carlos — who started on Duke’s 2001 national championship team, before embarking on his 13-year NBA career — began 25 years ago.

“Duke nation, baby!”

Five-star basketball recruits and twin brothers Cameron and Cayden Boozer announce that they will be joining

Cameron Boozer is the best 2025 recruit to commit to a school thus far, and both he and Cayden will likely be the focal points of the 2025 team.

Cooper Flagg, Duke’s freshman star and No. 1-ranked recruit in 2024, is expected to leave college for the NBA following one season with the Blue Devils, as he has a chance to be the first player taken in the NBA draft.

The Blue Devil assistant will be the next head coach of the Hurricanes.

Miami men’s basketball is set to hire Duke basketball assistant coach Jai Lucas as the program’s next head coach. Lucas is in his third season as a member of the Duke basketball staff and was promoted to associate head coach along with Chris Carrawell in 2023.

This season has been as disastrous as it possibly could’ve been for the Hurricanes, as the program was picked sixth in this year’s ACC preseason poll but is now 6-20 overall and an abysmal 2-13 in conference play, the worst record in the ACC.

The Hurricanes have won just two games since December 21st and losses include to Mount St. Mary’s, Charleston Southern, and VCU.

Miami’s season was officially thrown away after longtime head coach Jim Larranaga announced his immediate retirement just after Christmas after the Canes got off to a 4-8 start to the season.

“I’m exhausted,” Larranaga said at upon his retirement. “I’ve tried every which way to keep this going.”

After the 75-year old coach announced that he was stepping down, Miami associate head coach Bill Courtney was named the head coach of the program for the remainder of the season, but a new head coaching hunt was still on the horizon.

Now, Miami has landed with Duke’s associate head coach after Lucas has been a college basketball assistant for several promiment programs.

Lucas served four years as an assistant at the University of Texas, his alma mater, and then served two years as an assistant at Kentucky before joining Jon Scheyer’s staff when he became the Blue Devils’ next head coach following the retirement of Mike Krzyzewski.

Lucas played a big role in several big time commits the Blue Devils have gotten over the last few years, including Cooper Flagg and the Boozer twins.

The 36-year old will be the next young head coach to step into college basketball in this new recruitment and NIL era. Miami hasn’t had a strong recruiting campaign for the 2025 class, bringing in one 4-star prospect in Matthew Able. But now, Miami brings in a proven recruiter with a fresh mind to hopefully connect with the players in this new era of college basketball.

As the excitement of March Madness looms, Duke’s highly anticipated freshmen are about to face their biggest test yet. Cooper Flagg, one of the most talked-about recruits in recent memory, will take center stage at Madison Square Garden (MSG) this week. The young star has been dazzling with his blend of athleticism, defensive prowess, and versatility. However, the spotlight will only intensify as he and his fellow freshmen prepare for the chaos that typically accompanies the NCAA Tournament.

The critics are buzzing, questioning whether these first-year players can live up to the hype when it matters most. While Flagg has impressed during the regular season, many are unsure whether he can sustain his level of performance under the pressure and intensity of March Madness. Playing at MSG, one of basketball’s most iconic venues, adds another layer of pressure, with the crowd’s energy and the heightened expectations all on display.

Duke’s talented rookie class, led by Flagg, has shown flashes of brilliance, but the path to glory in the NCAA Tournament is fraught with challenges. With the tournament’s unpredictable nature and the best teams gearing up for a battle of epic proportions, Flagg and the Blue Devils must prove they have what it takes to succeed under pressure.

Duke’s seasoned coaching staff, led by Jon Scheyer, is known for its ability to develop young talent in high-pressure environments, and this March Madness will serve as a true test of their ability to navigate the madness and advance deep into the tournament. The nation’s eyes will be on MSG, eagerly waiting to see if the Blue Devils’ freshmen are ready to rise to the occasion or if the chaos of March will be too much for them to handle.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer is “optimistic” that versatile forward Maliq Brown will return this season from a shoulder injury.

The 6-foot-9 junior was hurt after playing just 10 minutes in the third-ranked Blue Devils’ win at Virginia on Monday. He appeared to injure his left arm reaching into a passing lane to deflect a ball, and had his arm in a sling afterward.

Scheyer said Thursday that medical imaging had found nothing unexpected with what he described as a dislocated shoulder. The Blue Devils (23-3, 15-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) step out of league play to face the Big Ten’s Illinois in New York’s Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

“We’re optimistic that we can get him back this season,” Scheyer said in a virtual call with reporters. “I think the hardest part is, a lot of it has to do with his stability, which right now he’s pretty sore still. So we have to see how much time that takes.”

Scheyer said Brown won’t play “in the next week or so at minimum” and estimated he’d be out a few weeks. Duke has just five games left in the regular season.

Brown, a transfer from Syracuse, averages just 2.5 points and 4.1 rebounds. But his value has gone beyond raw numbers; his ability to switch and defend multiple positions off the bench has been a key piece of a defense that ranks fourth nationally in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency metrics by allowing 90.9 points per 100 possessions.

Brown had recently returned from a four-game absence because of a knee injury.

Former UNC head coach Roy Williams voiced his support for the Tar Heels’ current HC Hubert Davis. Duke fans simply laughed at the sentiment.

Just a few days ago, former North Carolina head coach Roy Williams voiced his support for the UNC Tar Heels’ current head coach Hubert Davis after many called for his firing. Now, Duke fans are having a good laugh at their rival’s current situation.

“He’s the right person for the job. It makes me cringe, the way people are talking,” Williams said. “We’ve had tough moments this year… But I’d love for it to turn around so I could look at all those suckers and tell them to shut up”

Following Williams’ statements on Zach Gleb’s podcast show, the Duke Blue Devils and their fans had to simply laugh off the supportive sentiment for their in-state rivals.

The two long-lived rivals have only played once so far this season and the Blue Devils walked away with a resounding 87-70 victory over the Tar Heels. However, the game was played at Cameron Indoor and Duke has yet to visit Chapel Hill this year.

Davis, who played collegiate basketball at UNC, joined Williams’ staff as an assistant in 2012 and became the Tar Heels’ head coach in 2021 when Williams retired. Despite leading North Carolina to an appearance in the Sweet Sixteen last season, many UNC fans have expressed adamant doubt about Hubert’s future with the team.

So far this season, Hubert has led the Heels to a disappointing 15-11 overall record and UNC currently sits in sixth place in the ACC after going 8-6 to start conference play. Duke and North Carolina will face off for a final time in the regular season on March 8.

Previous Gatorade award winners who have gone on to help market the company include Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum and WNBA players Caitlin Clark and Candace Parker.

“This has been a big year for me on and off the court, and Gatorade has been there the whole way,” Flagg said in a statement. “From being named the Gatorade Best Male Player of the Year to now officially joining the team, it’s been surreal to have my name mentioned with some of the biggest names in basketball. The Gatorade roster is iconic, and I’m excited to work with them as I take this next step.”

Flagg joins other well-known college athletes such as University of Connecticut women’s basketball player Paige Bueckers, USC basketball player Juju Watkins, and University of Colorado football player Shedeur Sanders to help market the company under the NCAA Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) rule.