Jon Scheyer makes his feelings known on Jai Lucas amid Miami HC job rumors

Duke coach Jon Scheyer has heaped praise on his associate head coach Jai Lucas, who's reportedly the frontrunner to take over as Miami's next head coach. According to reports, the deal for Lucas to take up the job with the Hurricanes is pending contract negotiations, and it's also yet to be announced when Lucas will leave the Blue Devils if he joins Miami this season.

After No. 3 Duke crushed Illinois 110-67 on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Scheyer said that he was just getting up to speed with rumors around Lucas being a candidate for the Miami head coaching job before praising him.

“Absolutely, he’s a head coach,” Scheyer said. “No question about it. It’s part of why I hired him, you know, and the job he’s done for us has been incredible. Any report or anything that’s out there, you know, I’m just getting wind of it now, so we’ll cross that bridge and figure it out.

“But I can tell you, 100% Jay is an amazing coach. He’s been great for these guys, and we’ll continue to move forward together and figure all that out. But he’s, he’s terrific, man, all across the board, he’s great.”

Lucas coached as an assistant at Texas (from 2016 to 2020) and Kentucky (from 2020 to 2022) before taking up the assistant coaching role at Duke in May 2022. He was promoted to associate head coach in 2023 and has held the position ever since.

It remains to be seen whether Lucas will get his first head coaching job at Miami.

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Jon Scheyer's Duke will aim to close out regular season on a high before heading into NCAA Tournament

NCAA Basketball: Duke HC Jon Scheyer - Source: Imagn

Jon Scheyer's Duke (24-3, 15-1 Atlantic Coast) will look to close out the regular season on a high. The Blue Devils travel to face Miami on Tuesday before hosting Florida State on Saturday and Wake Forest on March 3.

Duke concludes its regular season with a trip to UNC on March 8. The Blue Devils are tipped as one of the favorites to win the national title this season, so it will be interesting to see how they fare in the postseason.