Jai Lucas leads No. 2 Duke to blowout win over Miami amid reported deal to take over Hurricanes program

Jai Lucas had no factor beating what may be very prone to be his new program on Tuesday night time.The Duke affiliate head trainer helped lead the Blue Devils to a dominant 97-60 win over Miami in Coral Gables on Tuesday. That sport got here simply days after Lucas reportedly reached an unofficial deal to take over the Hurricanes subsequent season.”Jai is a different trainer,” Duke trainer Jon Scheyer mentioned, by way of ESPN. “Now we have been via so much in combination for 3 years. He is the whole lot you’ll want to need. Consideration to element, nice with relationships, nice at the ground — and so, he is an ideal trainer. Base line, he is an ideal trainer. One in all my closest pals on the planet. Been via so much in combination.”Lucas, 36, began at Duke in 2022 when Scheyer changed longtime trainer Mike Krzyzewski because the staff’s head trainer. Lucas up to now labored as an assistant at each Texas and Kentucky, and he’s the son of former NBA participant and trainer John Lucas.An respectable deal for Lucas to begin at Miami isn’t but finalized, and for excellent explanation why. The Hurricanes’ season is sort of over. They grasp only a 6-22 report and take a seat in closing within the ACC standings heading into Saturday’s matchup at North Carolina. They’ll pass over the ACC match altogether, so their season will finish after their regular-season finale on March 8. Longtime trainer Jim Larrañaga stepped down from his put up in December because the Hurricanes’ trainer in December amid his 14th season with this system.The Blue Devils, however, appear poised to make a deep NCAA match run. They’re recently ranked No. 2 within the nation, most effective at the back of Auburn, and progressed to 25-3 at the season after Tuesday’s win. They’ve misplaced only a unmarried ACC sport, and feature received all however probably the most remainder of them by means of double digits.It’s nearly positive that Lucas will stay with Duke till after it’s eradicated from the NCAA match — each time this is. The switch window opens on March 24, then again, so the Hurricanes would preferably need him in by means of that date. In step with ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello, the 2 aspects are anticipated to come back in combination and get a hold of a valid timeline close to the tip of the steady season. When that occurs, or what it seems like, continues to be appear.”This isn’t our information to proportion,” Scheyer mentioned. “We will let Miami deal with that.”Lucas and the Blue Devils can be again in motion on Saturday once they host Florida State. They’ll then wrap up the steady season subsequent week with video games in opposition to Wake Woodland and at North Carolina.