Jai Lucas’s name has long been tied to Duke basketball, where he served as associate head coach under Jon Scheyer, helping mold the Blue Devils into a perennial contender. His fingerprints were all over the program’s recent success: top-tier recruiting classes, stingy defenses, and deep NCAA tournament runs.
So when news broke that Lucas was leaving Durham to take the head coaching job at the University of Miami, it was a surprise to the college basketball world. This was a shift, a profoundly emotional departure from a program he’d poured his heart into.
The Emotional Weight of Leaving Duke: Lucas’s Raw Reflections
In a revealing interview with CBS College Basketball, Lucas peeled back the layers on what it meant to leave Duke and how it felt to watch his former team battle in the NCAA tournament from the outside looking in.
Lucas’ move to Miami marks a new chapter for the 35-year-old coach, who now steps into the spotlight as a head man for the first time. But the story begins with his exit from Duke, a decision he described as both tough and inevitable.
Walking away from Duke was no simple task for Jai Lucas. The bonds he’d built with players, staff, and head coach Jon Scheyer made the decision a gut punch. In his CBS College Basketball interview, Lucas didn’t hold back: “It was hard, you know, it was hard.
It was emotional both ways, and, you know, I still talk to everybody throughout the tournament and still talk to them today.” That lingering connection speaks volumes about the relationships he forged in Durham, ties that didn’t snap when he took the Miami job.
The real test came during the NCAA tournament, when Lucas had to watch Duke’s games as a spectator rather than a sideline strategist.
He admitted to avoiding most of the Blue Devils’ matchups, saying, “I didn’t watch any games until the Houston game. You know, we watched the Houston game because I was home, and my son wanted to watch the game, so I watched the game with him.”
That night, sitting on his couch, the emotions flooded back. “Watching the Houston game, it was the first time where it was, like, it was really tough because you just kind of, you know, saying something, yelling at the TV and stuff,” he said. For a coach used to barking instructions in real time, the distance hit hard.
The Sweet 16 loss to Houston, a 54-51 grinder that ended Duke’s season, amplified the sting. “It’s tough because those moments suck, man. Those situations, those times are hard to deal with,” Lucas reflected.
Having been part of Duke’s Elite Eight run the previous year, he knew the heartbreak of a season cut short. His words paint a picture of a coach torn between pride in his former team and the ache of not being there to guide them.
Lucas’s Lasting Impact on Duke’s Basketball Renaissance
Before Miami came calling, Lucas was a cornerstone of Duke’s resurgence under Scheyer. Joining the staff in 2021 as an assistant, he rose to associate head coach and quickly made his mark. Recruiting was his superpower.
The 2024 class, headlined by Cooper Flagg, ranked No. 1 nationally, per 247Sports. The 2025 haul, featuring the Boozer twins (Cayden and Carlos), followed suit with another top ranking.
Those players didn’t just stumble into Durham; Lucas’s knack for building trust with prospects and their families sealed the deal. On the court, his defensive expertise stood out. Duke’s 2023/2024 squad finished ninth in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom, allowing just 92.2 points per 100 possessions.
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That stinginess occurred from the prior year, when the Blue Devils reached the Elite Eight. Lucas’s schemes turned good athletes into lockdown defenders, a hallmark of Duke’s identity during his tenure.
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