How Jai Lucas's Assistant Coaching Experience Guides Him During His First March Madness

Years of experience on the sideline of big games, gives first-year head coach Jai Lucas an early advantage entering his first NCAA Tournament game.

Mar 12, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Miami (FL) Hurricanes head coach Jai Lucas reacts in the first half at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — No. 25 Miami start their jounrey to St. Louis in the program's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the 2023 season.

As a No. 7 seed, the Canes have a lot to prepare for, but with Jai Lucas in charge, his experience at other winning programs has eased his worries about March Madness.

Lucas has spent a decade studying under some of the greatest coaches ever to call a play on the college hardwood. Years at Texas, Kentucky, and most recently, Duke have allowed him to coach, assist, and be part of long and short runs during the madness. There are a lot of ups and downs in the tournament, and they can come at an instant.

However, this is his first rodeo calling the shots and being the head honcho. This is also a learning experience for him.

"You know the hardest thing about coaching in the tournament is trying to keep everything safe and trying to keep it as normal as possible," Lucas said. "It's almost impossible to do. You know, it's all you see on TV. 
It's all you're hearing about, everything is college basketball 24/7. I think we have the last game of the first round. If I'm not mistaken, so we have two full days of it. 


"So, you know, my job is to try to keep everything as normal as possible. Our approach to this game was as normal as possible. It just gave us longer days to scout and come up with a game plan. But the way we go about it, our approach, trying to keep the guys engaged, is just that's our hardest part, because it's so different. 
So, just trying to keep some type of similarities between a normal game is the hardest approach."

Lucas also knows that with his experience, this is the best time to be honest with the team. It's do or die now, and the season is on the line.

"Just got tell me the truth," Lucas said. "Like, you got to tell them that it's survive and advance, it's win or go home."

Lucas continued.

"You know, it's not to add anxiety or any fears, just what it is, You know what I mean? So it makes you, everything has to be heightened," Lucas said. "So just understanding the magnitude of the moment. I think it's a big part, but also give them the confidence, understanding. we've been there before, we've been on the road. This is a road game, we've competed in Big town environments. 
We've played teams like this and that are similar. This is a lot of sched, and it was like eight teams of ACC made it, you know, so this isn't any different. It's always going to be about us and our approach, and how we go about.

"You know, it's not to add anxiety or any fears, just what it is, You know what I mean? So it makes you, everything has to be heightened. You know what I mean? 
So just understanding the magnitude of the moment. I think it's a big part, but also give them the confidence, understanding. we've been there before, we've been on the road.

"This is a road game, we've competed in Big town environments. 
We've played teams like this and that are similar. This is a lot of sched, and it was like eight teams of ACC made it, you know, so this isn't any different. It's always going to be about us and our approach, and how we go about."

The Hurricanes have the last game of the first round on Friday night. They take on the Missouri Tigers at a projected start time of 10:10 p.m. ET on TruTV.

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