Jai Lucas and Miami have finalized the contract that makes him the school's new men's basketball coach, nearly two weeks after they struck preliminary agreement on a deal, a person with knowledge of the talks said Wednesday.
Lucas will be introduced to the Miami community on Monday, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither side revealed any details publicly. The university was planning to formally announce the hiring on Thursday, the person said.
Lucas is expected to begin a five-year contract. He will be with Duke for its regular-season finale against North Carolina on Saturday, then fly to Coral Gables on Sunday and begin the new job officially on Monday.
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Lucas has been at Duke for three seasons and is currently the Blue Devils' associate head coach. He won't be on the sideline for them during the ACC Tournament or NCAA Tournament.
Duke, meanwhile, is an NCAA Tournament lock and potential national championship contender, led by player of the year candidate Cooper Flagg. That means the Blue Devils could play until early April; the transfer portal opens on March 24, and it's likely that Miami wanted its new coach in place by then to begin the process of rebuilding a roster.
At Miami, Lucas will take over for Jim Larrañaga, who stepped down suddenly in December and was replaced on an interim basis by longtime Miami associate head coach Bill Courtney — who will coach the Hurricanes’ season finale against NC State on Saturday.
The Hurricanes went to the Final Four two seasons ago, but they went 15-17 last season. They are 6-24 this season and just 2-17 in the ACC.
The 36-year-old Lucas — the son of former NBA coach John Lucas — has been on coach Jon Scheyer's staff at Duke for the past three years, the most recent two of those as the associate head coach.
Lucas is considered a top recruiter and was primarily responsible for Duke winning the race to sign twin brothers Cameron and Cayden Boozer last fall. The Boozer twins, the sons of former Duke star and NBA player Carlos Boozer, live in Miami — and were a top target of the Hurricanes as well.
Lucas also is Duke's defensive coordinator, the Blue Devils said. He worked at Kentucky for two seasons as a recruiting coordinator and assistant coach, joining the Wildcats after seven years at Texas — his alma mater — where he started as a special assistant, then director of basketball operations and eventually became an assistant coach.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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