Everything Jai Lucas said at ACC Tipoff

For decades, the ACC has been one of the best conferences in college basketball, but with the change of the guard over the past few seasons, there has been a power vacuum at the top of the sport.

New Miami Hurricanes head coach Jai Lucas looks to close that gap in his first year with the program.

There is still a lot for him to do, but with a fresh new roster of 13 new players, he took the stage for the first time as the head coach in Charlotte for the 2025 ACC Tipoff to lay out his plan for the future.

Opening Statement...

What an honor it is to be up here to represent the University of Miami and being a part of this historic conference.

But I also want to start just before we get started is just thanking Coach L, Coach Larranaga for the last 14 years. Not only everything he did for the University of Miami, but also for the conference.

Also, as well for the game of basketball.

You know, for me starting this journey, as my first year head coach and first time running a program, it's important for me to make sure I built my foundation with guys who had pride in being at least from the state of Florida or from the area.

I think it's hard in this day and age now with this portal and how things are to really get guys to buy into the university, and that's my job to get it.

But at least this first year I wanted to start it with guys who had pride being where they're from, and these three guys I brought with me, Tre Donaldson, Malik Reneau, Ernest Udeh, were the first three guys I attacked in the portal and wanted to build it with. One, with them being from the state, but also just watching them and my foundation and how I want to play and how I want to build this team. I knew I wanted these three to be kind of the core, especially in building the first year of this program as well.

So I'm excited about where we are and where we're headed and our opportunity to compete in the ACC, and also in our schedule in the preseason as well this year. The thing I wanted to really make sure we establish right away was just the culture of defense, and that's kind of my background and where I'm from and what I've been able to do.

So for me I wanted to build it in that vision, and I think part of that is, one, you've got to have great positional size, and that's kind of also how I built the team, and in doing that, it also gives us great versatility on that defensive end.

I felt that was the way to be most competitive right away, especially in this league, but moving forward in college basketball, I think it's a big part of it, too.

So I'm really excited where we are, where we're headed, but I'm excited where we can be once we get into conference play going forward.

Q: You in that intro talked about Jim Larranaga and what he meant to this program. To go deeper into maybe what he means to you and what that connection is if you have a deeper connection with him and then, secondly, just what does it mean that Miami saw in you as a first-time head coach that you were the right fit just reflecting on the fact that this opportunity came with such a storied program?

Yeah, Coach L and my father have known each other for a really long time. You know, my dad was in college, in the summers they would go around and work at other schools' basketball camps. He went and worked at Davidson, and every morning at 6:00 a.m. Him and Coach L would get up and work out together. They have had a bond and a friendship ever since then.

Ever since I took the job, he was one of the first people to call me, congratulate me, and kind of talk me through it. And he was at practice yesterday. He has an open invitation, like I told him. This is really his program that he's built and took to new heights, so you know, for me just having somebody who has sat in the chair and been very successful at the University of Miami with the basketball program has been important.

Then, you know, just for me this is a great opportunity. I understand it is a big opportunity, but everything that I have been able and been blessed to do, my time in coaching these last 12 years, one, starting with the great coaches that I've worked for, you know, but I've been able to almost do every job within a program.

I started as a GA. I was Director of Operations. I've been a head coach, associate head coach -- I'm sorry, assistant coach, associate head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, recruiting coordinator.

So I've done a little bit of everything, and I think just being able to kind of going through the process give them my vision of what I felt the job could be and just building on the foundation that was already there and taking it into this new era. I think we kind of aligned in that.

Q. You talked about, hey, we're excited where we are and we're excited as we head kind of into conference play. Yesterday Commissioner Jim Phillips was talking about how excite he was for the vision for the ACC and where it can possibly be. What is your role in this?

My role is to make us as competitive as possible and make sure that our schedule and our nonconference also coming into the conference where we're able to be as high of a, I guess, a NET team and a Quad team as possible and being competitive.

Where the ACC traditionally is one of the greatest basketball conferences there is, and we should be a conference moving forward that we should put at least six to seven teams.

I think, you know, it's hard because it's a reset, right? We've had all these great giants of coaches who were in the ACC that have retired in the last couple of years with Coach K and Coach Boeheim and Roy Williams, Coach Hamilton, and going on.

So there was going to be a reset and a couple of years where it needed to kind of figure out what it was going to be. I think with some of the new coaches in with Coach Odom and Coach Wade and the success they've had so many places, that we're headed and moving towards the right direction of being the premiere conference in basketball again.

Q: You mentioned that it's Coach L's program, but with basically a blank slate on the roster, it's your roster/Is it almost an advantage to be able to pick and choose and build a team in your own style and image rather than have to kind of build around a returning core?

I mean, it's the biggest thing. It's a great question, because it's the biggest thing and especially determining this first year. Yes and no.

I guess the no part is you have to do -- you have to get 13 new players, or 12 new players. If you have a few that are left over and a few that stay and maybe six or seven new players that you have to get, but then the good part is it is in my vision of what I feel is comfortable with me and how I want to play and my coaching style.

Also, you have a week, maybe two weeks recruiting period when you're in the portal and trying to figure out, get guys on campus, get guys on Zoom, and figuring out who fits and who meshes.

I think the biggest part is once you get everybody, trying to create some type of connection and some type of just relationship throughout the summer moving towards when you play your first game I think is the hardest part.

Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University and is the site lead for the Miami Hurricanes on SI. He can be reached at Twitter @Justice_News5.

Everything Jai Lucas said at ACC Tipoff

Opening Statement...

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