COACH… ACC Basketball Tipoff

Q: Q. Because of your background as a player, how much of that experience is embedded in your coaching philosophy, and are there things you learned as a player that you now find yourself emphasizing with this team?

LUCAS: No, it's huge. It's huge. I had the opportunity as a player -- I didn't feel that way when it happened to me, but to almost be in every seat. You know, as a freshman I started every game, played 30 games. I've transferred. I was in the portal, so I know what that feels like. I've been a rotational player. I've been a guy who didn't play in games. I've also been a guy who has been cut. So I feel it gives me the unique experience to be able to talk to everybody and know what they're feeling in that moment. I always tell people, this is my favorite part of coaching because it's like therapy for me, because I'm talking to me when I was that age and what I felt I needed to hear and what I felt would have helped me get through those moments. So it's a big part of my coaching. That's a great question.”

Q: Q. What have you taken from your dad -- I know he was a coach for a number of years -- and implemented into your own coaching style?

LUCAS: “For me he's kind of my foundation of everything, not only as a coach, but as a man. One of his biggest influence, and the players would probably hate him and I know Shelton knows this too, but it's conditioning. You know, I'm old-school in the sense of we condition a lot. We get up and down. I feel like you have to be in great shape to be a good team, and that's one thing I really learned from is just the value of conditioning and being in great shape along with so many other things. Me as a coach, he's kind of my foundation, and then the other places I've been I've kind of built off of it with that.”

Q: Q. I was wondering, you had a great first season with 26 wins. Is there something you can look back on with that season and say -- and grow as a coach and say, I think I'm better in year two than I was in year one?

LUCAS: “That is a great question. I guess it's kind of a TBD (laughing). You know, we'll kind of see when we get there. You know, for me I think the thing that's different, at least in my perspective of coaching, is your team is so different year to year. Most times as a coach and what I caught myself doing earlier is you can try to kind of go cookie-cutter, cut and paste, and think, all right, we did this at this time. It will work, but this team this year is completely different than my team last year, so they needed something completely different. So I've had to adapt and adjust with -- some of the things we did last year they carry over and they do work, but some of them didn't. So being okay with that and adjusting to being what's the best thing for this team and what's going to be the best thing to help them win and being okay with doing that.

Q: Q. I know you can't -- this will be a difficult question; sorry -- but what player do you think that's returning this season has made the biggest developmental jump from last season?

LUCAS: “Yeah, that is a great question, and I will say this, and I'll say it will be the two players up here with me right now with Shelton Henderson and Acaden Lewis. You know, with Shelton as a freshman coming in and having so many older guys around him, you fall into a role that gives you the ability to grow and kind of grow into your own. That's always what you want as a freshman. This year for him, and you see it publicly, but also for us there's a little bit more expectation for him to deliver. He's shown his growth in that and being comfortable with having to deliver and having to be a little bit counted on. I won't say he's the man because we have a really good team, but he is one of those guys that we are looking for game to game to be able to kind of carry us a little bit. Then the second part with Acaden, he's somebody I had a relationship with prior, and I watched him a bunch last year just because you grow to like people that you recruit. He was one of those kids I grew to like. For him, we're asking him to adjust a little bit. You know, his ability to score and his ability to be what I like to call a natural basketball player is something that he's been really good. And now for me, for him -- and I can say this up here because these are all conversations we've had -- is just becoming a full and complete point guard, which he already has some of that, but just showing it to him on film and getting him to grow it. Week by week, month by month he has caught onto it and he's starting to become his own new version of Acaden Lewis.”

Q: Q. The habits that this team can create, those positive habits that you can lean on, just bring me into some of those. As the faces may change, what are some things that habitually you think this team needs to continue to do?

LUCAS: “Just kind of some of the things that we really showed last year. You know, the way we're built and it will kind of be how we're built moving forward. We'll tweak it a little bit. Like this year we're tweaking it, but one would be just our physicality. That leads to multiple things, but one of it is winning the glass, being able to rebound. Second part of that is defending without fouling and using our size. Then the third part of that would be getting fouled and getting points from the free-throw line. This year with the way we're built -- part of this has to do with Acaden also -- is our ability to play faster in transition. It's something that we really wanted to do. Then being able to have multiple guys now being able to space the floor and being able to shoot with some of the guys we brought in, like Brent Bland, a Nick Dorn; Dante Allen has also grown in his shooting; freshman Caleb Gaskins has grown in his shooting. So just that ability to play faster, space the floor. But I would say the physicality is kind of where we start.”

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Miami head coach Jai Lucas attended the ACC Tipoff on Wednesday. He was accompanied by SF Shelton Henderson and CG Dante Allen. At the event, coach Lucas was interviewed by the press.

Opening Remarks:

“We’re excited about year two for us this year. At Miami we were grateful enough to have two of our top players back in Shelton and Dante Allen, and then we also to be able to go in the portal and get some guys that we felt fit us and fit our needs moving forward.

You know, for us just the opportunity this year to compete at a high level again in the ACC, which will be loaded just like last year from top to bottom, but for us to be competitive and have a chance to hopefully compete for the championship as we get closer.

We need to get there. We're far ways away from being able to get there right now, but by the time we get through conference we feel we have the ability to do that.

And I'm just excited about this group this year. It's completely different from our team last year.

We have some similarities, but it almost feels like a year one all over again, so it gives me the excitement every day to come to the gym to be able to coach them.

We have a really good, receptive group, a coachable group. I'm ready to start moving forward and get closer to the games.”

Coach Lucas then answered questions.

Q. Because of your background as a player, how much of that experience is embedded in your coaching philosophy, and are there things you learned as a player that you now find yourself emphasizing with this team?

LUCAS: No, it's huge. It's huge. I had the opportunity as a player -- I didn't feel that way when it happened to me, but to almost be in every seat. You know, as a freshman I started every game, played 30 games. I've transferred. I was in the portal, so I know what that feels like. I've been a rotational player. I've been a guy who didn't play in games. I've also been a guy who has been cut.

So I feel it gives me the unique experience to be able to talk to everybody and know what they're feeling in that moment. I always tell people, this is my favorite part of coaching because it's like therapy for me, because I'm talking to me when I was that age and what I felt I needed to hear and what I felt would have helped me get through those moments.

So it's a big part of my coaching. That's a great question.”

Q. What have you taken from your dad -- I know he was a coach for a number of years -- and implemented into your own coaching style?

LUCAS: “For me he's kind of my foundation of everything, not only as a coach, but as a man. One of his biggest influence, and the players would probably hate him and I know Shelton knows this too, but it's conditioning. You know, I'm old-school in the sense of we condition a lot. We get up and down.

I feel like you have to be in great shape to be a good team, and that's one thing I really learned from is just the value of conditioning and being in great shape along with so many other things.

Me as a coach, he's kind of my foundation, and then the other places I've been I've kind of built off of it with that.”

Q. I was wondering, you had a great first season with 26 wins. Is there something you can look back on with that season and say -- and grow as a coach and say, I think I'm better in year two than I was in year one?

LUCAS: “That is a great question. I guess it's kind of a TBD (laughing). You know, we'll kind of see when we get there.

You know, for me I think the thing that's different, at least in my perspective of coaching, is your team is so different year to year. Most times as a coach and what I caught myself doing earlier is you can try to kind of go cookie-cutter, cut and paste, and think, all right, we did this at this time.

It will work, but this team this year is completely different than my team last year, so they needed something completely different. So I've had to adapt and adjust with -- some of the things we did last year they carry over and they do work, but some of them didn't.

So being okay with that and adjusting to being what's the best thing for this team and what's going to be the best thing to help them win and being okay with doing that.

Q. I know you can't -- this will be a difficult question; sorry -- but what player do you think that's returning this season has made the biggest developmental jump from last season?

LUCAS: “Yeah, that is a great question, and I will say this, and I'll say it will be the two players up here with me right now with Shelton Henderson and Acaden Lewis.

You know, with Shelton as a freshman coming in and having so many older guys around him, you fall into a role that gives you the ability to grow and kind of grow into your own. That's always what you want as a freshman.

This year for him, and you see it publicly, but also for us there's a little bit more expectation for him to deliver. He's shown his growth in that and being comfortable with having to deliver and having to be a little bit counted on.

I won't say he's the man because we have a really good team, but he is one of those guys that we are looking for game to game to be able to kind of carry us a little bit.

Then the second part with Acaden, he's somebody I had a relationship with prior, and I watched him a bunch last year just because you grow to like people that you recruit. He was one of those kids I grew to like.

For him, we're asking him to adjust a little bit. You know, his ability to score and his ability to be what I like to call a natural basketball player is something that he's been really good.

And now for me, for him -- and I can say this up here because these are all conversations we've had -- is just becoming a full and complete point guard, which he already has some of that, but just showing it to him on film and getting him to grow it.

Week by week, month by month he has caught onto it and he's starting to become his own new version of Acaden Lewis.”

Q. The habits that this team can create, those positive habits that you can lean on, just bring me into some of those. As the faces may change, what are some things that habitually you think this team needs to continue to do?

LUCAS: “Just kind of some of the things that we really showed last year. You know, the way we're built and it will kind of be how we're built moving forward. We'll tweak it a little bit. Like this year we're tweaking it, but one would be just our physicality. That leads to multiple things, but one of it is winning the glass, being able to rebound.

Second part of that is defending without fouling and using our size. Then the third part of that would be getting fouled and getting points from the free-throw line.

This year with the way we're built -- part of this has to do with Acaden also -- is our ability to play faster in transition. It's something that we really wanted to do.

Then being able to have multiple guys now being able to space the floor and being able to shoot with some of the guys we brought in, like Brent Bland, a Nick Dorn; Dante Allen has also grown in his shooting; freshman Caleb Gaskins has grown in his shooting.

So just that ability to play faster, space the floor. But I would say the physicality is kind of where we start.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Small forward Shelton Henderson and guard Dante Allen then asserted questions from the press. Check what they had to sayin part two of TIPOFF to 2026-27” in part two of this report

GO CANES!

COACH… ACC Basketball Tipoff

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