CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Jai Lucas thinks the Miami Heat can help the Miami Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes' coach — whose team was picked fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason poll — said Thursday that when the Heat are good, then it stands to reason that the entire area gets a little more fired up about basketball.
And after the acquisition of two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo headlined a series of offseason moves that could make the Heat a contender again, Lucas expects excitement for basketball to be quite high in Miami.
“With Giannis being here and hopefully the success that the Heat has, I think it is all tied together,” Lucas said at the Hurricanes' media day. “This is a pro city. It is a big metropolitan city. We're not in a small college town. So, everything is built on that and built on adding players that people want to come see and come watch in an entertaining environment. Absolutely, I think it's all tied together.”
There are plenty of reasons why the Hurricanes should generate excitement on their own, after winning 26 games last season in Year 1 under Lucas and reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament. Miami opens this season Nov. 2 against Florida — a likely national title pick — in Tampa.
There is a history of the Hurricanes and Heat having strong seasons simultaneously. The Hurricanes' school record for wins in a season is 29, done twice — first in 2012-13 when the trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were leading the Heat to an NBA title, then matched in the Hurricanes' Final Four season of 2022-23 when the Heat returned to the NBA Finals.
“I actually have seen it trickle down,” Lucas said. “A lot of the recruits and a lot of people we're recruiting from Florida, these are the kids that are kind of the residual from when LeBron was here and growing up around that excitement with D-Wade and the Heat winning championships. That's their memory and that's how they started playing basketball. Now they're the kids you're recruiting and talking to them about it.”
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