Jai Lucas is no longer the associate head coach of the Duke Blue Devils. Yes, you heard that right! Jon Scheyer will head into the ACC and NCAA tournaments without his right hand. Lucas has officially been announced as the head coach of the Miami Hurricanes. Despite the change, Jon Scheyer gave Lucas a reality check.

You may ask why? It all has to do with the transfer portal. When talking about Lucas’s move to Miami and its impact on both the program and Lucas, Scheyer said, “He’d be behind with the way the transfer portal’s set up … There’s decisions that have to be made now for him and his program, not to mention hiring a staff.”

Let’s get one thing straight–Lucas wouldn’t be leaving Duke right before the NCAA Tournament if it were up to him. Scheyer himself confirmed that. “Jai wanted to stay, this wasn’t a decision that Jai made. This is me and him working to get together.” The way the NCAA calendar is set up, the decision was made that it’s best for Lucas to leave now.

You see, the college basketball transfer portal will be open for 30 days in the spring of the 2024-25 season. It starts after the second round of the NCAA Tournament and ends before April closes. Lucas is well known for his recruiting skills and defensive strategies. He’s been credited with bringing in top talents like Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel. At Miami, his biggest task will be to aggressively recruit from the portal. After all, the Hurricanes are coming off a disastrous season, finishing at the bottom of the ACC.

Lucas is already playing catch-up when it comes to planning his transfer portal strategy, just as Scheyer pointed out. On top of that, his main priority has to be assembling a backroom staff. With so much to do in so little time, things won’t be easy for him. This is exactly the reality check Scheyer was giving.

But what about Jon Scheyer? Will he and his Blue Devils be fine after losing such an important piece? Well, he certainly thinks so! Let’s dive into that.

Jon Scheyer confident of success following the departure of key staff

“I’m not going to sit here and say Jai’s not important to what we do,” Scheyer said. “Of course, he is. He’s smart. He’s great. We have continuity. But really, at this point of the year, we’ve developed our identity already. So really, it comes down to the day to day preparation, the job with our players on the court. And that’s why you have a staff. That’s why it’s not just one guy.”

Losing a key staff member is never easy. Losing them right before the Big Dance? Even worse. The NCAA definitely needs to do a better job with the calendar. But as for Duke? They should be just fine! Just like Scheyer said, the identity has already been established.

Duke still has one game left before heading into the ACC quarterfinals. And that game? Their arch-rival, North Carolina! It’s always a special game when these two clash. But this time, the Blue Devils are expected to come away with a comfortable win, making it a second sweep in three years. More than anything, this will be a test for Jon Scheyer without his associate head coach. A new chapter in Duke history begins now.