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2026-27 CANES Men's Basketball Schedule

I actually like this schedule. We have marquee games, even if they're mostly on neutral sites, but not too many where we could be 7-6 in OOC play, and not too few where our NET/RPI or whatever they use now will be horrible. The bottom line is, if we're as good as we think we can be, we'll show it in the ACC and that'll get us a good NCAAT seed.
 
Da_Lucky_One said:


#4 is somewhat accurate given the time of the year.
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This team is going to be interesting to watch, Lucas pieced together a team that played above their weight belt (especially with the depth, or lack thereof.) and Lucas was a first year HC too.

Now we kept 2 very promising freshman and a much deeper team than last year by a WIDE margin. Does that change up our style of play? This roster speaks to me as an aggressive/physical roster meant to emphasize athleticism & length.

PG: Acaden Lewis 6’2 195
SG: Dante Allen 6’4 210
SF: Shelton Henderson 6’6 240
PF: Robert miller 6’11 260
C: Somto Cyril 6’11 270

On the bench you have:
- C Egor Rhyzof 6’11 220 (Contributor)
- PF Desean Goode 6’8 230 (Contributor)
- SG/SG Nick Dorn 6’7 225 (Contributor)
- PG/SG Brent Bland 6’3 205 (Contributor)
- PF Chris Birden 6’9 190 (Developmental depth piece)
- SF/PF Caleb Gaskins 6’9 220 (Contributor)
- PG/SG Quin Berger 6’2 195 (depth guard with experience)
- SG/SF Marcus Allen 6’7 (Coming back from injury but can/will be a contributor when he’s cleared to play)
- PG/SG LJ Cason 6’3 205 (Coming back from injury but can/will be a contributor when he’s cleared to play, mainly if it’s looking like we are making a March push imo)

Lots of depth on this team. I’m excited to see what Lucas does with this many capable bodies. I imagine we will play fast and aggressive similar to last year but at a higher rate.

no way we can expect 2 straight years of ****** free throw shooting….right?
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StevoBevo said:
This team is going to be interesting to watch, Lucas pieced together a team that played above their weight belt (especially with the depth, or lack thereof.) and Lucas was a first year HC too.

Now we kept 2 very promising freshman and a much deeper team than last year by a WIDE margin. Does that change up our style of play? This roster speaks to me as an aggressive/physical roster meant to emphasize athleticism & length.

PG: Acaden Lewis 6’2 195
SG: Dante Allen 6’4 210
SF: Shelton Henderson 6’6 240
PF: Robert miller 6’11 260
C: Somto Cyril 6’11 270

On the bench you have:
- C Egor Rhyzof 6’11 220 (Contributor)
- PF Desean Goode 6’8 230 (Contributor)
- SG/SG Nick Dorn 6’7 225 (Contributor)
- PG/SG Brent Bland 6’3 205 (Contributor)
- PF Chris Birden 6’9 190 (Developmental depth piece)
- SF/PF Caleb Gaskins 6’9 220 (Contributor)
- PG/SG Quin Berger 6’2 195 (depth guard with experience)
- SG/SF Marcus Allen 6’7 (Coming back from injury but can/will be a contributor when he’s cleared to play)
- PG/SG LJ Cason 6’3 205 (Coming back from injury but can/will be a contributor when he’s cleared to play, mainly if it’s looking like we are making a March push imo)

Lots of depth on this team. I’m excited to see what Lucas does with this many capable bodies. I imagine we will play fast and aggressive similar to last year but at a higher rate.

no way we can expect 2 straight years of ****** free throw shooting….right?
-
Click to expand...

I don't think it changes our style of play at all. I think Miami will always be an aggressive defense and rebounding team that lead the ACC and nation in fast break points. I think the roster has improved from the shooting standpoint which will make our offense a lot better.
Last season, I always thought if the team made 10 or more three point shots then they will win every game because of the way they play defense. I feel the same way this season as I don't think Coach Jai Lucas wants to get away from the long, athletic defensive lineups. He just wants guys who can play defense and make jump shots at a high level.
I personally like this style of play and direction of the program. Even under Coach L, big, physical teams (2013, 2018) gave us some fun seasons even though small ball gave us the most successful (2022, 2023) and least successful teams (2024,2025).
I still think being big and physical gives Miami the best chance to beat teams like Duke, Virginia, Louisville and Carolina every year to win the ACC and make Sweet 16+ type runs in the NCAA tournament.
 


I don't know if I am looking for him to breakout as I would prefer him to be consistent.
I think if he plays consistent defense and is a consistent shooter who hits 2+ three point shots a game then that would benefit the team a lot.
 


I would not be surprised if Shelton gets some ACC Player of the year votes as long as Miami wins 12+ games in the ACC and finish in the top 3 of the conference.
 
Da_Lucky_One said:
I actually think Miami will finish higher than 4th in the ACC this season.
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JZCane0825 said:
Why do you say that? Maybe ahead of Louisville (I'm not a big Kelsey guy) but Duke and UVA appear to be locks at 1 and 2.
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I think Miami finishes 2nd in the ACC regular season standings.

The argument for Louisville is some combination of "They spent the most money in the transfer portal" and "They are this year's Michigan". I'm not convinced the pieces fit, that Pat Kelsey can make the pieces fit, and I don't think Adrian Wooley and a redshirted London Johnson is enough continuity.

The argument for Virginia is "They had the most retention". Predicting them to finish high is both sensible and safe, but I'm not yet convinced they'll be any better than they were last season. This could come down to how easy or hard their conference schedule is.

By the way, the argument for Duke is that they are simply loaded at every position*, and have no weaknesses in terms of retention, the transfer portal, or high school/overseas recruiting. I don't think a 1st place ACC finish is set in stone, but I would feel foolish to predict against it.

*They are, theoretically, weakest at the 3 position, but most schools would donate a vital organ to have Dame Sarr and Bryson Howard on their roster. Plus, there's enough flexibility to try a three-guard lineup or a three-forward lineup.
 
JZCane0825 said:
Why do you say that? Maybe ahead of Louisville (I'm not a big Kelsey guy) but Duke and UVA appear to be locks at 1 and 2.
Click to expand...

I agree with you about Louisville.
I am gaining confidence in Coach Jai Lucas and his philosophy. I know defensively, Miami will be in every game and their ability to make jump shots along with free throws will determine the outcome of close games.
If this teams makes over 75% of their free throws along with 10+ three points FGs per game then we are talking about ACC champions.
 
Da_Lucky_One said:


#4 is somewhat accurate given the time of the year.
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USC and mizzou too low, ND & Pitt are too high imo.

I don’t expect Michigan to finish top 3 in their conference; that’s asking a lot from them.

If the selection committee doesn’t devalue the Acc again, I expect fsu to be a tournament team
 


I thought this was an interesting perspective about the official visit to Miami.
Miami has both a lot of benefits and a lot of challenges so character has to be a factor in recruiting kids to Coral Gables.
 
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