Jai Lucas and Miami have finalized the contract that makes him the school’s new men’s basketball coach, nearly two weeks after they struck preliminary agreement on a deal, a person with knowledge of the talks said Wednesday.
Lucas will be introduced to the Miami community on Monday, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither side revealed any details publicly. The university was planning to formally announce the hiring on Thursday, the person said.
Lucas is expected to begin a five-year contract. He will be with Duke for its regular-season finale against North Carolina on Saturday, then fly to Coral Gables on Sunday and begin the new job officially on Monday.
Lucas has been at Duke for three seasons and currently is the Blue Devils’ associate head coach. Miami interviewed a number of candidates — some with college experience, some with NBA experience — and quickly identified Lucas, the son of former NBA coach John Lucas, as its top choice, then worked to get an agreement done.
At Miami, Lucas will take over for Jim Larrañaga, who stepped down suddenly in December and was replaced on an interim basis by longtime associate head coach Bill Courtney — who will coach the Hurricanes’ season finale on Saturday.
ESPN first reported the completion of the contract.
Lucas will leave Duke before what could be the start of a national title run. The Blue Devils (27-3, 18-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) are widely expected to have a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
That means the Blue Devils could play until early April; the transfer portal opens on March 24, and Miami wanted its new coach in place by then to begin the process of rebuilding a roster.
Miami — just two years removed from a Final Four run — will not make the ACC Tournament. The Hurricanes enter the finale at 2-17 in the ACC and 6-24 overall, one loss shy of setting a school record for most in a season. They play host to N.C. State on Saturday in their finale.
It has been an incredible freefall for the Hurricanes, who started 11-2 last season while coming off the trip to the national semifinals — and have gone 10-39 since.
Lucas is the person tasked with fixing it.
Lucas is considered a top recruiter and was primarily responsible for Duke winning the race to sign twin brothers Cameron and Cayden Boozer last fall. The Boozer twins, the sons of former Duke star and NBA player Carlos Boozer, live in Miami — and were a top target of the Hurricanes as well.
Lucas also is Duke’s defensive coordinator. He worked at Kentucky for two seasons as a recruiting coordinator and assistant coach, joining the Wildcats after seven years at Texas — his alma mater — where he started as a special assistant, then director of basketball operations and eventually became an assistant coach.
Lucas started his college playing career at Florida, starting 36 games for the Gators in the 2007-08 season, before transferring to Texas. He briefly played professional basketball before turning his attention to coaching.