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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\u2019s Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida, on Saturday, February 28, 2026.<\/p>\n
PHOTO BY AL DIAZ<\/p>\n
adiaz@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
The Miami Hurricanes men\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
As the No. 14 Hurricanes look to build upon Lucas\u2019 stunning first campaign \u2014 one that saw them go 26-9 overall, 13-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament \u2014 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\u2019s Benchmark International Arena on Monday is set for 6 p.m., with the game broadcast on ESPN 2.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely exciting,\u201d freshman Caleb Gaskins said. \u201cA game that I feel like I\u2019m definitely ready for it and I think as a team we\u2019re ready for it. A lot of preparation went into what we\u2019re trying to do. Florida\u2019s a good team, but we truly believe that we can beat them, and that\u2019s what our mission is.\u201d<\/p>\n
To beat Florida \u2014 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 \u2014 the Hurricanes will have to match up with the Gators\u2019 size.<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve seen Florida,\u201d Lucas said, \u201cbut those guys are huge. … They fly and they go to the glass, so we\u2019ve got to clean up our blockouts, our rebounds, our fouling. That\u2019s where it starts with them. They\u2019ve been the best in the country the last three years at it. It\u2019s something we take pride in too, so it\u2019s going in there and standing up to that test.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miami will look to counteract Florida\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
In UM\u2019s lone exhibition game ahead of the season, a 109-96 win over preseason No. 24 Vanderbilt, Renau and Ryzhov didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody\u2019s getting bigger,\u201d Lucas said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to find a happy medium.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, for the Hurricanes, find a way to build on the momentum they generated last season. UM\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
UM was voted to finished fourth in the always stacked Atlantic Coast Conference and a deep March Madness run isn\u2019t out of the question if they can put things together.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a good standard set, a good foundation,\u201d Henderson said. \u201cWe set our goals pretty high this year. We plan to achieve all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
That starts with proving their worth against the top ranked team in the country.<\/p>\n