Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - HIRED: New Miami Hurricanes Basketball Head Coach Jai Luca MUST Turn The Program Around

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Miami Hurricanes have their new head basketball coach. Is Jay Lucas the man to bring the Canes back to the final four? You are Locked on Cains, your daily podcast on the Miami Hurricanes, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. I am Alex Dono, University of Miami alumnus, co-host of Locked on ACC and writer for Cains County at Rivals. And thank you so much to the everydayers for making Locked on Cains. Locked on ACC as well.

Starting point is 00:00:37 We're going to run this on Lockdown ACC. All of the above, thank you for making us your first listen and your first watch. We're available free wherever you get your podcast. We're free on YouTube. We're part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. So Jay Lucas had been the hot name for the past couple of weeks. He'd been linked to the Miami head coaching job. And the top assistant coach at Duke, he has officially been announced today,

Starting point is 00:01:01 Thursday is Miami's next men's head basketball coach. Quick quote from Lucas. My first impression was just the passion that there is down there for the University of Miami and all of athletics, but especially for basketball, their kind of vision for where they want the program to go moving forward in this new era and it aligned with my vision, he said. And folks, to me, this probably doesn't happen without Joe Etchevaria, Miami's new university president, who's probably the most sports-enthused president we've ever had, at least in my lifetime, wanted to make sure he got this higher right. But did Miami get this higher right? I thought there's no better person to talk to about Jay Lucas than the man who has covered him at Duke. Our colleague here from the Lockdown Network,

Starting point is 00:01:51 J.J. Jackson, who does an awesome job hosting Lockdown Blue Devils. Jay-J., how are you, sir? Thank you for joining us. Absolutely, Alex. I'm doing well. Excited to talk a little bit about this Jay Lucas hire. It's been a whirlwind of the last few days today in particular with the news becoming official. But yeah, it looks like the hurricanes finally have their head coach. And unfortunately, I mean, Duke is saying farewell to their associate head coach. Yeah, you know, Lock on Cain's every dayers and ACC every dayers, like they know I am a fan

Starting point is 00:02:21 of this hire, but I want to present the opposing view to you, JJ first. Because when I initially said, like, hey, I think this is like my words were. home run higher. I got a lot of pushback from certain Miami fans because the concern from some JJ is the fact that Jay Lucas has not been a head coach. He's held some very important assistant jobs at Kentucky, most recently at Duke, of course. Do you feel that Jay Lucas, is he ready to take this next step and take over his own program? 100%. And truthfully, after every season that he's been with Duke, this being his third, I've been worried that it would be the final year, that he's been on staff because it just felt like it was a matter of time before a school and an opportunity

Starting point is 00:03:05 came calling for him. And this is a great one for him to stay within the league to go and compete against Miami. It's going to be tough for Duke having to go up against him a few times a year when they meet on the hardwood. But just because he hasn't had that first opportunity yet doesn't take away from what he's been able to do on the defensive end of the floor in particular leading and spearheading this Duke team as their defensive coordinator. It's been one of the tops in the entire country for the last three seasons that he's been on staff. And then the impact that he makes recruiting has been phenomenal. He has been at a couple of really good spots.

Starting point is 00:03:38 It's easy to recruit at Duke. It's easy to recruit at Kentucky. He was there with Rick Barnes at Texas. He's been around some really good coaches, but obviously he's learned, and he's done a great job forging those relationships. And I think he's going to get started right away. I mean, the timing of this Alex's is so eye-opening for so many.

Starting point is 00:03:58 It stings from the Duke perspective, but what it should tell Miami basketball fans is that they're really serious about turning this Kane's program around. Talk about that timing, JJ. You mentioned from the Duke perspective, you've had a whirlwind the last few days covering this developing story. When the reports about Jay Lucas first started to surface linking him to Miami, one of the speculations was that he might finish out the season and the postseason. at Duke. And of course, Duke's got a hell of a basketball team. They're expected to make, you know, potentially a long run in the NCAA tournament. But he's not going to be around for that.

Starting point is 00:04:37 He's already left Duke now and he's on his way to South Florida. Were you surprised, A, that he's leaving now. And B, how's that going to affect John Shire and Duke for the next several weeks? Incredibly surprised that it's happening now. But the more you sit there and think about it, you could start to make sense as to why this is happening. And from Miami's perspective, as to why, you know, their season ends on say it's going to be over. Miami's not going to get to go and compete in the ACC tournament in Charlotte. And so it's an opportunity to decide, right, we're done with this year.

Starting point is 00:05:09 It's over with let's start fresh. And we need this guy to come in and be ready to do that. From the Duke perspective, however, it is a historic run that Duke has been on through the ACC so far this season. Happy to see him see it through with Saturday's game against North Carolina. and it'd be awesome in a rivalry game like this to send him off and bid him farewell from Duke with a win over the Tar Heels. But it's a team that wants to compete even further than that, that wants to win the ACC tournament. And then importantly, it's Duke and Auburn that are the betting favorites to win the national championship this season.

Starting point is 00:05:42 And so if that is what's happening down the road here, it'd be really nice to have your defensive coordinator there to help you dial up the schemes and everything you've. need going into those big time matchups. But you know as well as I do, Alex. What I've had to remind myself is that there's never been an assistant coach or a head. At the end of the day, it's up to the players to go out there and make the shots to score the points to get the stops defensively. That's what the Duke perspective is. That's what we're having to remind good on Jay Lucas for stepping away here and getting this moment to take over the Miami program. Graham. Yeah, and obviously the timing, the timing is really good for Miami because, you know,

Starting point is 00:06:33 you mentioned Miami's offseason is about to start. You know, the transfer portal is going to open March 24th. And, you know, Duke will probably still be playing beyond that date. So, you know, to have your head coach in place when the portal opens, I think is incredibly important. And on that, on that note, JJ, I mean, you know, Miami fans, we know why Jim Laranaga retired kind of abruptly the way that he did. You know, he, Coach L, who had been coaching for 50 plus years, just mentioned, he no longer felt, you know, equipped to coach in this day and age of college. But it's a lot different than when he first started, right? With transfer portal, NIL being so prevalent in recruiting and all that goes into that. And Coach L just decided, you know, this is, this is no longer

Starting point is 00:07:19 for me. This is not what I signed up for. And honestly, I think that hiring a guy like Jay Lucas from where I sit was very deliberate to kind of go the opposite route to get someone who is very young and hungry. Do you feel like Jay Lucas is equipped to thrive in the modern day college basketball landscape? Absolutely. And if you want to continue the parallels with what he's about to take over, you mentioned replacing an icon in Jim Laranaga. That's exactly what John Chyre has done at Duke replacing Mike Shoshchewski. And Jay Lucas has been there the entire time. Coach Kay has not moved out of his office. He is in the building every single day. So he's kind of still able to see what's been going on and that sort of thing.

Starting point is 00:08:01 So Jay Lucas has also been able to pick Coach Kay's brain over the last few years. But he's got to watch what John Shire has had to go through and following an icon. And he's going to know what exactly it takes to step into that Miami job. And then the relationships piece on the recruiting front, I think that's going to be really important to get right. And he's going to work on it right away. I mean, to your point, what's unfortunate, it's an NCAA issue that the transfer portal is opening up when the Sweet 16 is still being played. I mean, you figure we could figure this out when the semester ends or when the season ends, open it up and let there be the player movement. I digress.

Starting point is 00:08:39 That's a problem for another day. Miami knows now's the time to get this right. And I think he is going to get it right. I think from the Duke perspective, we're worried about the current commits we have right now, in particular those boozer twins. to be on the lookout for in Shelton Henderson, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if Jay Lucas gets started early on the recruiting trail right away. That is really well said.

Starting point is 00:09:03 As far as Jay Lucas, what is he like to cover? What's his personality like? Great competitor. I mean, really fun guy. Duke's been able to show off a couple of behind the scenes videos that he's had, just kind of messing around with the guys on the team. And so relatable because he is young and he's been in their steps and he's played at the Division I level.

Starting point is 00:09:25 I think it's interesting. You kind of look at his family, the basketball success that they've had. His father played 14 years in the NBA. His brother had a cup of coffee in the league as well, playing there for the Miami Heat. Unfortunately, he's most known for LeBron James jumping over him in a game when LeBron was playing for the heat.

Starting point is 00:09:45 I guess John Lucas was playing for the Bulls at that time. But, yeah, so the Lucas family, well known in basketball circles, also really, really good tennis players. His father was an All-American college tennis player at Maryland and a lot of pickleball as well for Jay Lucas. He's always talking trash with John Shire and some of the other guys on the staff about their pickleball games. So I would imagine he's going to want those things to continue

Starting point is 00:10:09 once he gets down there to South Beach. Give me your prediction for Duke in the NCAA tournament. Like you mentioned, a historic regular season this year, but are they going to go all the? the way, JJ. We're the top contenders, you think. I don't see them getting beat. I really don't. And I hope that I'm not jinxing anything with this playing out. But when you've got the best player in the sport and Cooper Flag and you've got a really good roster around him with other lottery picks on the team, like this is the time to get it done. Duke's offense has been incredible. Their defense has been

Starting point is 00:10:40 just as good. It's been a down ACC, sure, but still, the numbers that they're putting it night in night out are so incredible. So excited to see what they can do. I think Auburn would be the team to be on the lookout for, but that's the team that Duke was able to beat head-to-head earlier the season. They beat them inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. And so offensively, Auburn's really good, but the Duke defense is set to be dialed in. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if we're set up for a collision course with these two teams. Love it. Make sure you guys check out the awesome work that J.J. Jackson does at Locked on Blue Devils. And Alex, I do want to add just on the recruiting thing, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring this up.

Starting point is 00:11:20 A lot of people are going to start talking about the boozers, being there at Christopher Columbus High School. And I don't know anything at all here. I think being legacy kids, their father, Carlos, being a standout for Duke and everything they've got set up there, I wouldn't be surprised at all if they do still end up playing for the Duke Blue Devils. But just be aware, I know the chatter is going to start instantly from Miami on this. And then Shelton Henderson is a top 10 player in the class.

Starting point is 00:11:49 He signed his letter of intent to play for Duke. But he went to Bel Air High School, the same high school that Jay Lucas went to in Texas. He's been a part of the JL3 Lucas Family EYBL program his entire life. So if you want to start some rumors, you want to start some theories out there. I mean, the recruiting really is going to start right away instantly for Jay Lucas once he gets down there to Coral Gables. You heard it here first. We're starting the rumors here on Lock on Cains and Locked on Eames. You could hear J.J. Jackson does an incredible job. You guys have probably seen and heard him on the squad before as well.

Starting point is 00:12:27 I know we're going to lean on you a lot during that NCAA tournament run. So make sure you guys check out Locked on Blue Devils. Make sure you guys like and subscribe, Locked on Cains, Locked on ACC. And we'll talk to you next time right here on the awesome Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day.

Locked On ACC - Daily College Football & Basketball Podcast - HIRED: New Miami Hurricanes Basketball Head Coach Jai Luca MUST Turn The Program Around

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