Miami Hurricanes head coach Jai Lucas signals towards the players during the second half lof the basketball game against the Boston College Eagles at the University of Miami’s Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida, on Saturday, February 28, 2026.
PHOTO BY AL DIAZ
adiaz@miamiherald.com
The Miami Hurricanes men’s basketball team has a tall task ahead of them on Monday, one that kicks off an overall tall task of a season for second-year head coach Jai Lucas.
As the No. 14 Hurricanes look to build upon Lucas’ stunning first campaign — one that saw them go 26-9 overall, 13-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament — they will get a pretty good idea of just how good they are when they play their season opener against the top-ranked Florida Gators. Tipoff from Tampa’s Benchmark International Arena on Monday is set for 6 p.m., with the game broadcast on ESPN 2.
“It’s definitely exciting,” freshman Caleb Gaskins said. “A game that I feel like I’m definitely ready for it and I think as a team we’re ready for it. A lot of preparation went into what we’re trying to do. Florida’s a good team, but we truly believe that we can beat them, and that’s what our mission is.”
To beat Florida — which won the national championship in 2025 and was the top team in the country for most of 2026 before getting upset in the second round of the tournament — the Hurricanes will have to match up with the Gators’ size.
UF returns its entire veteran frontcourt, a group that includes the preseason SEC Player of the Year in 6-9 forward Thomas Haugh, the reigning Naismith Defensive Player of the Year in 6-10 center Rueben Chinyelu and towering 7-0 forward/center Alex Condon. Florida led the country last season in rebounds per game (45.14).
“I don’t know if you’ve seen Florida,” Lucas said, “but those guys are huge. … They fly and they go to the glass, so we’ve got to clean up our blockouts, our rebounds, our fouling. That’s where it starts with them. They’ve been the best in the country the last three years at it. It’s something we take pride in too, so it’s going in there and standing up to that test.”
Miami will look to counteract Florida’s size with a five-man rotation in the front court of fifth-year senior forward Malik Reneau (6-9), Georgia center transfer Somto Cyril (6-11), sophomore forward Shelton Henderson (6-6), freshman Gaskins (6-8) and senior center Egor Ryzhov (6-11), with 6-10 forward Robert Miller III and 6-8 forward DeSean Goode also options to contribute off the bench.
In UM’s lone exhibition game ahead of the season, a 109-96 win over preseason No. 24 Vanderbilt, Renau and Ryzhov didn’t play but UM still saw big outings from Henderson (17 points, five rebounds, four assists), Gaskins (20 points, 14 of which came in the second half) and Cyril (10 points, six rebounds), while point guard Acaden Lewis (team-high 23 points and 10 assists) spread the floor.
“Everybody’s getting bigger,” Lucas said. “You’ve got to find a happy medium.”
And, for the Hurricanes, find a way to build on the momentum they generated last season. UM’s 26-win effort was a 19-win improvement over the 2024-25 season, tied for the largest single-season turnaround in NCAA history. Lucas has three players back from that team in Henderson, Reneau and shooting guard Dante Allen along with a dozen new faces between freshmen and transfers.
UM was voted to finished fourth in the always stacked Atlantic Coast Conference and a deep March Madness run isn’t out of the question if they can put things together.
“We have a good standard set, a good foundation,” Henderson said. “We set our goals pretty high this year. We plan to achieve all of them.”
That starts with proving their worth against the top ranked team in the country.
.JPG)
Miami Herald
Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.