'You Have to Keep Winning':Jai Lucas Lays Down His Standard Entering Year Two
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The Miami Hurricanes continue to increase the load as the season nears in year two for Jai Lucas.
Moreover, the Hurricanes look like one of the best run teams in the country after watching the second open practice of the year. But that doesn't matter to Lucas.
He has a standard he is trying to set, and the main reason he took the job at Miami.
"Yeah, no, for me, the standard's always the same," Lucas said. "It was the same. It wasn't year one in year two. You know, I want this to be a place where we get to a championship level and then sustain it. And so part of doing that is operating that way and everything we do, you know, with how we get to the next drills, how we show up to practice, how we go to class. So everything, anything you do is everything you do. That's how I like to say it. "
Lucas spent the first year rebuilding the program after the worst season in basketball history. Getting fans engaged with the product is the goal now, along with winning. Lucas knows that this is the only way to get the environment he is seeking and has seen all around the country.
Miami is a football school, but he knows winning at all levels trickles down and can be contagious regardless of the program. Miami basketball is looking to do that, but it starts with staying the course and building properly.
"And so whatever we're doing that's not to the standard is going to bleed out," Lucas said. "So it's all tied together and all tied again, it's all connected, and it starts with the staff, and everybody who touches the players every day, and then the players are the main ones in the main time force because they're behind it, but just understanding that standard and that kind of message that I said anything you do with everything you do.
"So it's how we show up, how we practice every day, can't take every any day for granted. And we've got to come in and play with the heads. And so every day you just give every day.
— Justice Sandle (@Justice_News5) October 15, 2026
Before the season opens, the Hurricanes will battle Vanderbilt in an exhibition game at Watsco Center. Miami will use it to get ready for Florida, which could be the best team in the country.
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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.
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