While he didn’t have the same success in professional basketball as his father, Jai Lucas has already carved out quite the career for himself. The former Texas point guard developed into one of the nation’s top recruiters, doing work in recent years at Texas, Kentucky, and Duke. Now Lucas takes over at a Miami program that was in the Final Four two seasons ago but really took steps back, especially after Jim Larranaga’s retirement this past fall.
Larranaga coached just twelve games last season before stepping aside, bailing on what would become the Hurricanes’ worst season in recent memory. Miami was just 7-24 and dead last in the ACC and it’s not shocking to see that basically the entire roster is gone. Matthew Cleveland was largely productive in his final season while Nijel Pack was lost early last year to injury and now found his new home through the portal, one of nearly a dozen former Hurricanes who exited that way this offseason.
Lucas quickly put together a nice recruiting class that includes Top 35 talent in Dante Allen and Shelton Henderson, but nabbed a few solid pieces from the transfer portal as well. Former TCU big Ernest Udeh Jr. slides into a major role in the frontcourt while Tru Washington could be a prominent scorer after success with New Mexico. Missouri shed Marcus Allen, a former Top 100 recruit with potential, while many eyes will be on former Michigan point guard Tre Donaldson running the show for Lucas.
While point guards on new teams have typically gotten our attention, we’re casting our gaze on Malik Reneau as the most important new piece of this puzzle. A 6-9 forward originally from Miami, Reneau is a former Top 30 recruit who’s back in his hometown after three years up at Indiana in the Big Ten. He was inhibited by a knee injury last season, but averaged 15.4 points and 6.0 rebounds as a sophomore with the Hoosiers and his production was just a hair under that last season.
Reneau comes across as a unique specimen; as he’s not really a long-range shooter or shot blocker, but his size and athleticism allow him to be a major playmaker. If he can develop some of those skills while continuing to grow as a scorer and rebounder, then he can become one of the best forwards in the ACC this season. After all, his production with the Hoosiers has been pretty potent while really cutting down on turnovers this past year.
When you piece together what Lucas’s first lineup might look like, some spots are much clearer than others. We know Donaldson runs the point, Udeh will be under the hoop, and that Reneau will be counted upon as a scorer and someone to clean up the glass. That in itself is important, but if Reneau can elevate his game even further perhaps both he and these Hurricanes could surprise people in the months ahead.