Miami Hurricanes head basketball coach Jai Lucas joined Mike Ryan and his crew on the LeBatard Show, speaking about his new five-year extension along with the Malik Reneau situation.
On the five-year extension: I hope they enjoy having me here. I love being their coach. It's just taking it year by year. Last year is over. We got to take the next step as a program this year and then go from there.
On what surprised him in his first-year: Everything. I think everything surprises you as a head coach. You know, you prepare, you got your notes, you got all this stuff you said you'd do for years. And then when everything starts flying and everything comes towards you, you got to just kind of adapt and adjust on the fly. And I thought we did that a good job as a program. And I have a great staff that helped me a lot. And we had great players last year that were mature and older, and they were able to adjust and adapt as well. So, it made it a lot easier.
On whether last season exceeded his expectations: That's right where I thought we would be I thought with the roster that we built and what we were able to put together, it's just when it started to click and our season progressed the way it was. And then, you know, we get right there in the Round of 32 against Purdue, and we just kind of run out of gas. We played a smaller roster last year where you played really about seven guys, 30-plus minutes almost, and it showed up on the biggest stage. You grow and you learn from those experiences. But I would be lying to you if I said it was a surprise. I think it's a surprise for everyone else. But for me, I felt like that's where we were going to be.
On how Florida has developed into a basketball state: It is probably one of the hottest states right now in the nation, to be honest with you. You know, when I was growing up and when I was at Texas, it was Texas. And then it was California for a little bit. But now it's Florida, to be honest. You have guys like Cam Boozer, who was just the third pick in the draft. You know, everybody you talked about before. And then you have a bunch of players like, I can't say any names, but the number one point guard in the nation is in Broward. You have the number one sophomore in the country that is from Tampa that plays in Orlando. So all these guys are in the state of Florida. And I kind of, you know, when I was looking at the job, I was going to take the job regardless. But when I was looking at the job, I wanted to see what was coming down the pipelines and where, you know, this was headed with in-state talent. And I saw where this thing was headed, and it trended in the right direction. And so it's my job to try to get these guys to come to ‘The U’.
On getting advice from his father and brother: They actually did a good job of just being family this year and just being around and trying to support me as much as possible. And they really wouldn't say anything unless I asked or I came to them or I called them, which was shocking. I thought it was going to be the other way around. But they did a great job of just being a brother and being a father and just helping support me through this first year.
On his thoughts about the current state of college basketball: It’s a day-to-day basis right now. I don't know what is going to come today that was not here yesterday. So I just got to take it in stride, and it's my job as the head coach of the University of Miami to always try to have us at the front of everything. And so that's what I try to do. The state of college basketball, I can't say the language on the show, but it's not in a good place. But we are trying to figure out what this is. My biggest thing is just tell me exactly what it is and what it's going to look like, and I'll go from there. But right now they can't tell you anything, so everybody's just kind of trying to guess, and we're just trying to be the best at guessing right now.
On Malik Reneau: He’s in a court case. That's all I can kind of tell you. And we're still trying to figure out, like everybody. You see people signing these, but everybody's signing and picking these players without them being completely eligible, they're saying they're eligible, but they don't know. And I think Monday, after everything closes out, we'll have a better feel of exactly what this looks like. But we do have an open roster spot. We have one more spot that we have open that we can do something with. So we're just kind of just waiting and see what happens.
On the five-year extension: I hope they enjoy having me here. I love being their coach. It's just taking it year by year. Last year is over. We got to take the next step as a program this year and then go from there.
On what surprised him in his first-year: Everything. I think everything surprises you as a head coach. You know, you prepare, you got your notes, you got all this stuff you said you'd do for years. And then when everything starts flying and everything comes towards you, you got to just kind of adapt and adjust on the fly. And I thought we did that a good job as a program. And I have a great staff that helped me a lot. And we had great players last year that were mature and older, and they were able to adjust and adapt as well. So, it made it a lot easier.
On whether last season exceeded his expectations: That's right where I thought we would be I thought with the roster that we built and what we were able to put together, it's just when it started to click and our season progressed the way it was. And then, you know, we get right there in the Round of 32 against Purdue, and we just kind of run out of gas. We played a smaller roster last year where you played really about seven guys, 30-plus minutes almost, and it showed up on the biggest stage. You grow and you learn from those experiences. But I would be lying to you if I said it was a surprise. I think it's a surprise for everyone else. But for me, I felt like that's where we were going to be.
On how Florida has developed into a basketball state: It is probably one of the hottest states right now in the nation, to be honest with you. You know, when I was growing up and when I was at Texas, it was Texas. And then it was California for a little bit. But now it's Florida, to be honest. You have guys like Cam Boozer, who was just the third pick in the draft. You know, everybody you talked about before. And then you have a bunch of players like, I can't say any names, but the number one point guard in the nation is in Broward. You have the number one sophomore in the country that is from Tampa that plays in Orlando. So all these guys are in the state of Florida. And I kind of, you know, when I was looking at the job, I was going to take the job regardless. But when I was looking at the job, I wanted to see what was coming down the pipelines and where, you know, this was headed with in-state talent. And I saw where this thing was headed, and it trended in the right direction. And so it's my job to try to get these guys to come to ‘The U’.
On getting advice from his father and brother: They actually did a good job of just being family this year and just being around and trying to support me as much as possible. And they really wouldn't say anything unless I asked or I came to them or I called them, which was shocking. I thought it was going to be the other way around. But they did a great job of just being a brother and being a father and just helping support me through this first year.
On his thoughts about the current state of college basketball: It’s a day-to-day basis right now. I don't know what is going to come today that was not here yesterday. So I just got to take it in stride, and it's my job as the head coach of the University of Miami to always try to have us at the front of everything. And so that's what I try to do. The state of college basketball, I can't say the language on the show, but it's not in a good place. But we are trying to figure out what this is. My biggest thing is just tell me exactly what it is and what it's going to look like, and I'll go from there. But right now they can't tell you anything, so everybody's just kind of trying to guess, and we're just trying to be the best at guessing right now.
On Malik Reneau: He’s in a court case. That's all I can kind of tell you. And we're still trying to figure out, like everybody. You see people signing these, but everybody's signing and picking these players without them being completely eligible, they're saying they're eligible, but they don't know. And I think Monday, after everything closes out, we'll have a better feel of exactly what this looks like. But we do have an open roster spot. We have one more spot that we have open that we can do something with. So we're just kind of just waiting and see what happens.
