Miami's Jai Lucas Highlights What Makes Caleb Wilson and No. 11 UNC Difficult, But Beatable
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. — First-year head coach Jai Lucas has already played against three top 25 opponents this season.
And while the rising coach already has the Miami Hurricanes (18-5, 7-3 ACC) back in tournament conversations, he is still searching for his first win over one (0-3), which will announce his arrival as a coach.
No better way to make a statement in a great conference than by beating No. 11 North Carolina at home, giving the Canes a needed resume booster.
The Tar Heels are coming off a buzzer-beater victory over No. 2 Duke, shocking the home crowd as they battled back into the game. Now they are one of the hottest teams in the country, leaving the Hurricanes is a strange spot as they prepare for a team playing its best basketball all season.
"I mean, it's North Carolina," Lucas said. "You know, a program, the history of basketball, that is one of the best ones, and it's no different. You know, they have really good players. But the one thing that's always been the same is that I've ever since I played against North Carolina's transition.
"They're one of the fastest teams ever, and it's no different this year. You know, they have a great size. When you look at Caleb Wilson, they have [Henri] Veesaar on the inside, but their speed and their ability to turn make-or-miss shots into layups on the other end."
Lucas continued to talk more about Wilson. He watched many freshmen around the country this year, but Wilson is the one that he was most in awe of ahead of the team's matchup.
He's really good," Lucas said. "I see what all the hypes about. You know, the thing that shows just from watching. I was watching him also, when he was on the circuit and in the summer and stuff. But his ability to give everybody else confidence on the court as a freshman is the most impressive thing. Like, they have a guy they feel that they can go to, and he usually delivers, and you can just see the life it gives everybody else."
That energy is what makes Wilson a special player. He galvanizes the team at all levels, allowing them to play an elite brand of basketball. It is something the Hurricanes can match if they don't beat themselves.
"That's one of the things they do best," Lucas said. "Just doing that and in a battle on the glass, it's going to be huge, you know, because they're big, they're athletic, they're physical. You know, we've got to kind of match them in that. If we do that, we'll be fine.
"You know, I think you know, it's going to come down to whose identity shows more, you know, because we're very similar in how we play. We both are high-scoring teams, both like to play in transition, both play double bigs, and love the offensive rebound. So that's going to be a big part of the game. So it's going to see who wins those trenches, who wins those wars more, will kind of be the separation in the game to make."
The Hurricanes will battle against the Tar Heels Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 7:00 Eastern on ESPN, with an expected sold-out crowd at Watsco Center.
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.