A new coach has brought new hope for the Miami Hurricanes

As we countdown to the start of the 2025-26 Syracuse basketball season on Nov. 3, The Juice Online will be doing a team-by-team opponent analysis of every single ACC opponent. Today, we analyze the Miami Hurricanes, who the Orange will play on Jan. 24.

After a home contest against Virginia Tech on Jan. 21, Syracuse will stay at home to host Miami on Jan. 24.

Recapping the 2024-25 Miami Hurricanes Season

Things did not go well for the Hurricanes last year. After opening up with several mid-major opponents, Miami went on to lose 17 of their next 18 games, with their lone win coming against Presbyterian.

There were several embarrassing losses during that period, including Charleston Southern and Mount St. Mary’s. Legendary coach, Jim Larranaga retired mid-season, leaving Bill Courtney to take over the rest of the way.

The Hurricanes finished dead last in conference play at 3-17, and were 7-24 overall. Under the new ACC Tournament rules, they were not allowed to compete in the postseason tournament, and their season ended with plenty of questions heading into the offseason.

Analyzing the Hurricanes' roster

One of the key questions was resolved on March 6 when Duke assistant Jai Lucas was instated as the head coach. He immediately worked to put together a roster that was completely gutted and revamped.

In the offseason they lost several key players, including leading scorer Matthew Cleveland (17.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg) and former five-star recruit Jalil Bethea, who transferred to Alabama.

Lucas then brought in a plethora of players to fill in the gaps in the portal: Jordyn Kee, Marcus Allen, Tru Washington, Ernest Udeh Jr., Tre Donaldson and Malik Reneau.

The acquisition of Donaldson is a homecoming after two seasons at Auburn and one with Michigan. He is coming off a year where he averaged 11.3 points on 37.5% from 3.

Miami also added seven freshmen, headlined by a pair of top 50 recruits in Shelton Henderson and Dante Allen.

A new coach brings new hope

The complete roster turnover from Lucas has led to a significant change in perception of the program. While Miami finished 18th last year, they are now projected to finish eighth in the ACC according to the recent Preseason ACC Poll.

A projected starting lineup of Donaldson and Washington at the guard spots, Henderson and Reneau at the wings, and Udeh Jr. at center is a formidable one, and a big improvement over the 2024-25 edition.

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