Duke star shows Jai Lucas love after former assistant handled Blue Devils' dirty work

You love to see it! Although the Duke Blue Devils were not able to beat the North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill over the weekend, the Miami Hurricanes picked up the slack by defeating them 75-66 on Tuesday night. It is a testament to the great coaching job Jai Lucas is doing in year one at Coral Gables. The former Duke assistant was always destined for great things. He is already thriving now!

Miami's win over UNC was so impressive former Duke star Tyrese Proctor chimed in on social media.

Proctor knows Lucas quite well, as his time playing for Jon Scheyer completely overlapped with the time Lucas spent on Duke's bench as an assistant. While the Australian native is now in his first year with the Cleveland Cavaliers since going No. 49 overall to them in the 2025 NBA Draft, Lucas is about to lead Miami back to the NCAA Tournament in his first season at the helm. What a time to be alive!

More people should be over the moon to see other people close to them suceed in their endeavors.

Tyrese Proctor showers Jai Lucas with praise for Miami beating UNC

Much gets lost in how players bond with their former assistant coaches in this day and age of college basketball. With so much emphasis being on one-and-done, it is not even about player and head coach half the time. While some are only biding their time before turning pro, that was clearly not the case for Proctor and Lucas. They knew their time was coming, but they had to be patient, together.

This win by Miami is a huge help for Duke. The Blue Devils still have to play North Carolina at home at the end of the regular season. Miami looks to be a tournament team in its own right, but this win over UNC probably gets them out from under the bubble. There are Quad 1 wins, and then there are wins like these... Duke can maybe learn a thing or two from Miami ahead of its next go-around with UNC.

For now, Lucas seems to be well on his way toward being a star in the college basketball coaching profession. While he does have to operate in the extended shadow of Jim Larrañaga, Scheyer had to replace his former head coach and mentor in Mike Krzyzewski. Even though Lucas was only at Duke for a short time, his impact was certainly felt, as illustrated by Proctor's reaction to his massive win.

For as much acrimony as these schools share on the gridiron, it is all and fun and games with hoops!