Duke men’s basketball coach John Scheer will hire Jay Lucas of Kentucky as the assistant coach, sources told ESPN Friday.
Lucas is the first non-Duke basketball tenant since Mike Krzyzewski appointed Tim O’Toole as assistant coach in 1995.
He is the third and final assistant to Scheyer’s first team at Duke, joining Chris Carrawell and Amile Jefferson. Carrawell has been assistant coach under Krzyzewski since 2018, while Jefferson has been promoted as Director of the Player Development Center. Shire also appointed Elon coach Mike Schrag as special assistant to the head coach.
Lucas, 33, is considered one of the best young assistant coaches in the country. The son of longtime NBA player and coach John Lucas, he played college ball in Florida and Texas before a brief career. He then spent seven seasons under Rick Barnes and Shaka Smart in Texas before moving to Kentucky as an assistant coach the last two.
“I’ve known the Lucas family for 25 years and followed Jay’s career as a player and coach,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said when he hired Lucas in 2020. Much is known about this program. I have always been impressed by the work he did and the relationships he created. Jay is another guy who is respected by everyone because of his work ethic and his players first approach. It would be a great addition.”
Houston born Lucas is well connected with Texas. During his time in Kentucky, he helped get Texas products Damon CollinsAnd travel wheeler and Kason Wallace. He was also the primary contact for the five star guard Ty Washington Jr.. And she helped select the potential top ten cheddon sharp.
The rental was first reported by 247Sports.