Big Ten Forward and Miami Native Lists Hurricanes in Top Five
Jai Lucas is hard at work rebuilding the Miami Hurricanes basketball roster after taking over in early March following the retirement of coach Jim Larranaga in December.
Lucas is trying to retain five-star freshman Jalil Bethea, and was recently connected to Georgia transfer guard Silas Demary Jr and Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis out of St. John’s.
Luis isn’t the only Miami native Lucas, the longtime Duke associate head coach under Jon Scheyer, is trying to bring back home. Malik Reneau, who played at Montverde Academy before a fantastic three year career at Indiana, listed the Hurricanes in his top five list out of the transfer portal.
Miami is listed alongside Auburn, Michigan, Arkansas, and USC.
Reneau missed some time as a junior for the Hoosiers, appearing in 26 games and starting 19 while averaging 13.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 0.8 steals per game. He was once again an efficient low post scorer but his three point shooting was non-existent in Mike Woodson’s cluttered offense, as he went just 3-24 from outside the arc.
Still, his finishing around the rim and passing make him a very quality starter, and he’d give coach Lucas a core veteran to build around in the portal.
Additionally, adding a player from Montverde – which is a factory at producing high level college basketball stars – could help build a strong pipeline for coach Lucas at Miami. With his strong foundation in recruiting, some early wins involving the top local high school circuit could be huge for his tenure with the ‘Canes.
