Miami extends contract of basketball coach Jai Lucas, AP source says

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami extended the contract of coach Jai Lucas over the past few weeks, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Wednesday.

The extension came with a raise, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no details were revealed publicly.

Miami, as a private university, is not required to release contract information and did not comment on the extension. Lucas had four years left on his original five-year deal.

Lucas engineered an impressive turnaround in his first season with the Hurricanes, leading them to a 26-9 overall record and going 13-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference without any returning players. Miami — which went 7-24 overall and 3-17 in ACC play in 2024-25, before Lucas arrived — wound up making the NCAA Tournament, beating Missouri before falling to Purdue in the second round.

The reworked agreement with Lucas came around the same time as Miami getting a new deal done with football coach Mario Cristobal on the heels of last season’s 13-3 record and run to the College Football Playoff national championship game, the person said. Word of Cristobal’s extension was first reported by On3 last week and then confirmed by Cristobal.

“We’ve done a lot of good things,” Cristobal said when discussing his extension, the terms of which also were not confirmed by the school. “And there’s a lot more good and great and elite things to come.”

Cristobal also has raved about the work Lucas has done and even attended some of the basketball team’s early morning workouts in recent weeks.

Lucas, who had not been a head coach before Miami hired him in March 2025, was mentioned as a potential target for many schools that were seeking coaches after last season.

“We have good people at the university, and then we had great people in the building this year. … Half the battle is making sure you get the right people in there,” Lucas said when last season ended. “And then once you get the right people, you’ve just got to figure it out.”

Miami was one of nine schools to be among the final AP Top 25 in both football and men’s basketball during the 2025-26 season.

AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball