Jai Lucas Quietly Turning Miami Into Basketball Powerhouse with Transfer Portal Additions

The Hurricanes are looking like a legitimate threat to the top of the ACC next season

Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Miami Hurricanes head coach Jai Lucas calls a play during the first half against the Purdue Boilermakers during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. | Jeff Le-Imagn Images

One of the biggest surprises from this college basketball season was the rise of the Miami Hurricanes.

One year removed from being one of the biggest disappointments in sports, winning just seven games and seeing Jim Larranaga retire, it was time to push the reset button on the program, and it worked magic.

Jai Lucas left Duke following the regular season to get a head start on the transfer portal with Miami and he built a team that quietly won 25 games in the regular season and ACC Tournament, earned a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament and won a game before a hard fought loss to Purdue in the Round of 32.

Now Lucas is going to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke and he’s truly one of the best young coaches in college basketball.

First, he was able to retain Shelton Henderson for another season after a promising freshman campaign and then got to work in the portal.

Miami landed Georgia transfer Somto Cyril, who many thought would be an Arkansas commit upon his entry into the portal and followed it up by landing Villanova transfer Acaden Lewis after shining in the Big East during his rookie year.

The three should be the foundational pieces for success next season in Coral Gables but the Hurricanes are nowhere close to finished with its roster makeover.

Now, Kansas transfer Bryson Tiller called off his visit to Arizona after visiting Miami and Missouri as Lucas could be adding another highly thought of player to his roster.

It takes a lot to replace Malik Reneau, Tre Donaldson, Tru Washigton, and Ernest Udeh but Jai Lucas might be creating a more talented roster with Miami than he had this season and it won’t be long before he has the Hurricanes basketball program back in the national spotlight.