Why Jai Lucas says ‘it’s like Year 1 all over again’ as UM basketball starts practice

University of Miami admin September 22, 2026 0 Comments

Why Jai Lucas says ‘it’s like Year 1 all over again’ as UM basketball starts practice

Jai Lucas is entering his second season at the helm of the Miami Hurricanes’ men’s basketball program. His squad exceeded expectations in his debut campaign, going 26-9 and reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He laid his foundation.

So naturally there should be some extra sense of comfortability for Lucas as he enters Year 2 with the Hurricanes, right?

“Zero,” Lucas said with a smile. “No comfortability.”

To understand why, take a glance around the practice court as the Hurricanes went through their first official practice on Monday. There are three familiar faces on the court in sophomores Shelton Henderson and Dante Allen plus Malik Reneau, the latter of whom is still awaiting clarity on his status for the season as he attempts to gain a fifth season of eligibility.

“It’s 12 new players,” Lucas said. “We have Dante and we have Sheldon back. Everybody else is new. There’s completely new players, completely different skill sets. It’s starting completely over. It’s like Year 1 all over again.”

And Lucas embraces that opportunity to, in his words, “start from the ground level and build something back up like we had before.”

What they built last year was pretty special. He created a roster from scratch and turned it into a contender both in the Atlantic Coast Conference and nationally. Miami’s 19-win turnaround (from 7-24 the year before Lucas arrived to 26-9 in his inaugural year) tied an NCAA record for Division I turnarounds. The Hurricanes went from last place in the ACC to third in the conference.

“He wanted to win quick,” said Allen, who averaged 6.6 points per game as a freshman last season. “I know he came in with a new team. He had to get new players, a new staff, and all that, but he didn’t want to take that as an excuse to have a rebuild. He wanted to come in and win quick. I think he knew the guys he wanted to have. He knew what was going to help him win with his coaching style.”

The expectation now is to keep winning.

Lucas’ retooled roster this year is deeper than the one he fielded last year that generally didn’t have more than six players on the court for meaningful minutes.

Villanova transfer Acaden Lewis and Allen project to be the Hurricanes’ starting guard tandem. Lewis was second-team All-Big East and a unanimous Big East All-Freshman Team selection last year.

Henderson, who averaged 13.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game last season, will be part of a frontcourt that should also feature a combination of Georgia transfer Somto Cyril, freshman Caleb Gaskins and Robert Morris transfer DeSean Goode.

“We’ve gotten close as a group, really close,” Henderson said. “I think we have a good shot this year of going farther than last year. I’m just looking forward to it.”

And the Hurricanes will certainly be tested.

They open the season Nov. 2 in Tampa against the Florida Gators, who could open the season as the No. 1 team nationally. Their non-conference slate also includes a Thanksgiving trip to Las Vegas for the Players Era 16 tournament with a field that includes seven other teams that reached the NCAA Tournament, including defending national champion Michigan (who Miami could face in the second round of the event). UM hosts Alabama, which reached the Sweet 16, on Dec. 12 as part of the SEC/ACC challenge and faces Texas (another Sweet 16 team from last season) in Houston on Dec. 12.

ACC play begins Dec. 29.

Lucas said putting together a tougher non-conference schedule was intentional with the NCAA Tournament field expanding this season from 68 teams to 76.

“I felt like the season was going to come down to strength of schedule a lot,” Lucas said, “and so putting us in some more primetime games will help when it comes to that. But also going into conference, it gives us a better chance with the conference schedule we have because we’ve got a lot of big road games. It just gives us more information and more kind of experience to get into.”

Reneau status

As for where things stand with Reneau, Lucas said they are taking everything “day-by-day” as they await clarity on his status.

Reneau went undrafted after last season and signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Orlando Magic. However, he has been training with the Hurricanes since the summer after being part of a group of players who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in hopes of receiving a fifth year of eligibility. The NCAA updated its eligibility standards so that student-athletes now have five years of eligibility over a five-year window. That luxury wasn’t extended to players from the Class of 2022, like Reneau, who went through four seasons in four years and did not take a redshirt year.

“We’re just trying to figure out what’s next, if he will be able to play or if he will be in shape to go somewhere else and continue his professional career. We’re just taking it. We really don’t have any answers. I don’t have any answers. I don’t think anybody does. But he’s here and he’s been practicing and participating. He’s in school. So we’re just working towards that.”

This story was originally published September 22, 2026 at 1:05 PM.