Jai Lucas and Miami Land Their First Five-Star Basketball Recruit
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Jai Lucas and the Miami Hurricanes have landed their first five-star recruit of the 2026 class, and it was a home run hit for the Canes.
Miami has landed five-star small forward Caleb Gaskins as the first major player to be landed for Lucas as the Hurricanes' head coach.
Gaskins is a top-15 recruit in the country and the consensus No. 1 overall player out of Florida in the 2026 class.
🚨BREAKING🚨 5-star SF Caleb Gaskins has committed to Miami🙌
— Rivals (@Rivals) October 30, 2025
Read: https://t.co/B0kCouAMAA pic.twitter.com/J0RpIPWi5a
Lucas continues to return to the Montverde pipeline of players that has sent some of the best new talent into the NBA over recent years. Now, he has a few talented players of his own that he will try to bring to the Hurricanes to rebuild after an all-time terrible season last year. This is also a great chance for them to turn the narrative around and return to the Final Four form that the school was in just two long seasons ago.
This recruiting win will continue to push towards the future as he remains patient with recruiting while also landing key players who will buy into his program. This is the first of many wins for Lucas.
It’s a great day to be a Miami Hurricane!!!! 🙌🙌🙌🙌 pic.twitter.com/uMUzLAwD4G
— Canes Men’s Basketball (@CanesHoops) October 30, 2025
Jai Lucas Remains Patient on His Recruiting as a Message Will Come During the Season
"We're going to develop you," Lucas said. "That's the biggest thing and that's how my staff is built. I think we'll show that I think we'll show that with what we get on the court and also the development throughout the season. I think that's one of the most important things that you can get now in this day and age in college is great development, but also knowing that you have great relationships from a head coaching perspective.
"You're going to have somebody who tells you the truth, hold you accountable and holds you to a high standard, but also understands your process and what you're going to do and understanding it's not one size fits all. It's not cookie cutter. Each person needs something different. I can't coach this guy the same way I coach this person because they're two different people."
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.
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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.