CORAL GABLES, FL – The 2024-25 UM Men’s Basketball team couldn’t have gone more downhill than it did. No one expected them to crumble to 7-24 record. It was so bad that Jim Larranaga stepped down and retired midseason. Bill Courtney had some tough shoes to fill as the interim head coach and was only able to win three ACC games. Here’s the 2025-26 UM Men’s Basketball season preview.
Year One for Coach Lucas
Jai Lucas comes into Coral Gables bringing new hope for the Miami Hurricanes. Having come from a talented program at Duke, he is expected to carry over that same level of success at UM.
UM was only in the Final Four just over two seasons ago. Duke was just in the Final Four themselves. The hope is that Lucas can provide Miami with an identity in his first season.
Jai Lucas bball HC “ One of the reasons he took the job is because it’s a national brand” pic.twitter.com/rV7t99SIbX
— Caneville (@caneville305) October 20, 2025
His father, former NBA coach John Lucas, has a long-standing friendship with Jim Larranaga.
The Starting 5
Tre Donaldson – Guard
Donaldson shot 43.3% from the floor (149/344) and 37.5% from 3 (63/168). He started in all 37 of his games, where he posted 26 games in double figures and two of 20-plus. Tre Donaldson averaged 11.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.0 steals per game.
Dante Allen – Guard
Allen comes in with a pair of Florida state championships and three Nike EYBL titles. Dante Allen averaged 11.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game and earned Nike EYBL Scholastic Third Team All-Conference honors last season at Monteverde.
Shelton Henderson – Forward
Henderson flipped his commitment from Duke to Miami this past offseason. At Bellaire, he averaged 22.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 3.0 steals per game. The five-star recruit helped USA Basketball win the gold medal at the 2024 FIBA U18 AmeriCup.
Malik Reneau – Forward
Reneau averaged 13.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 26 games last season at Indiana. Malik Reneau shot 55.2% (139/252) from the court and 73.3% (66/90) from the charity stripe. He reached double figures on 19 occasions.
Ernest Udeh Jr. – Center
Udeh Jr. posted career-highs in nearly every statistic, averaging 6.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game in 26.6 minutes. He shot 63.4% from the field. Ernest Udeh Jr. had 10 or more rebounds in a game for TCU nine times.
Reps in the 305 ‼️🤝 pic.twitter.com/aaXCnLWNos
— Canes Men’s Basketball (@CanesHoops) October 19, 2025
Rotation Players
Jordyn Kee – Guard
Kee redshirted his freshman season at Georgia. The Broward County native did play a few minutes last season but is expected to see increased playing time off the bench.
Marcus Allen – Guard/Forward
Allen comes back to his hometown and is likely to be used more as a guard. He averaged 2.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game in 9.2 minutes at Missouri.
Tru Washington – Guard
Washington made 33 of 34 starts at New Mexico and averaged 11.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. The junior had 21 double-digit scoring games.
John Laboy II – Guard
Laboy II averaged 14.2 points, 4.0 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game as a senior at St. Francis Episcopal. He helped lead them to a TAPPS 4A state title.
Noam Dovrat – Guard
Dovrat helped Hapoel Jerusalem win the Israeli Cup in 2023 and 2024, as well as the 2024 League Cup. He averaged 5.0 points, 2.5 assists, and 1.9 rebounds last season.
Treyvon Maddox – Forward
Maddox is a four-star prospect from Oak Ridge High School, where he averaged 10.1 points and 3.8 rebounds. He shot 56% from the floor and 44% from 3.
Salih Altuntas – Forward
Altuntas played for both Istanbul Anka Spor and Anadolu Efes (U-19) in Turkey last season. He has also competed in FIBA Junior Team events in the past.
Timotej Malovec – Forward
Malovec played for Mega Superbet in the ABA League First Division from 2023-25. He represented Slovakia at the Senior and Youth National Team levels as well.
— Canes Men’s Basketball (@CanesHoops) October 19, 2025
Non-Conference Stand Out Games
November 16 – vs 3 Florida Gators
The first test comes against the reigning NCAA tournament National Champions. This game will be played at a neutral site in Jacksonville. The Canes haven’t beaten the Gators since December 8, 2015, at the Watsco Center. Florida went undefeated in all their non-conference games.
November 27 – vs 8 BYU Cougars
BYU made it all the way to the Sweet Sixteen this past season and looks even better now. Both teams are 2-2 against each other in program history. The Cougars have one of the best lineups and backups in the nation and seek to build off their 26 wins.
December 2 – at Ole Miss Rebels
The Rebels made a surprise run to the Sweet Sixteen last season. This year, they have several new transfers coming in, but they shouldn’t be slept on. The Hurricanes have never played Ole Miss before, and this may be an exciting ACC-SEC matchup to watch.
Conference Stand Out Games
Official schedule + Wallpaper Wednesday… we got you 🤝
🎟️ https://t.co/22SY1cv88e pic.twitter.com/7xPTXcYrCt
— Canes Men’s Basketball (@CanesHoops) October 15, 2025
January 17 – vs Clemson Tigers
Clemson reached the first round of the NCAA tournament and were the Sunshine Slam Beach Bracket champions last season. The Tigers are predicted to regress with a different roster, but they are still expected to finish in the top half of the ACC standings.
February 10 – vs 25 North Carolina Tar Heels
The Tar Heels currently rank third in the ACC preseason poll. They exited March Madness early in the first round, and head coach Hubert Davis enters the season under pressure. This team has plenty of size and should be able to carry over more success in the NCAA tournament.
February 14 – at NC State Wolfpack
Last season was a huge disappointment for the Wolfpack. They went from the Final Four the prior season to falling apart. Darrion Williams just might be the best player in the ACC. NC State has some of the nation’s top high school recruits on its team, and they will go far.
February 21 – at Virginia Cavaliers
The Cavaliers had an underwhelming 2024-25 season after appearing in the Final Four the prior year. Their offense was weak, having finished no.346 among all Division 1 teams in scoring. With new coach Ryan Odom, they should be back on track to glory.
March 7 – vs 11 Louisville Cardinals
This is a Cardinals team that really made some noise in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Louisville has a strong group of guards headlined by Mikel Brown Jr, who’s a projected top 5 pick. They also have Ryan Conwell and Adrian Wooley.
Prediction & MVP
The Miami Hurricanes will improve this season, and I have every reason to believe they will do even better than what pundits are saying. I predict they’ll finish eighth in the Atlantic Coast Conference with an 18-13 regular season record.
Jai Lucas came to this program known for his great recruiting skills. He brought in guys like Tre Donaldson, Malik Reneau, and Shelton Henderson, who I believe will be big contributors on offense. On defense, this team improves too with players such as Ernest Udah Jr., Timotej Malovec, and Salih Altuntas.
This is a new era in Coral Gables, and if Lucas can lead this team deep into the ACC tournament, then this program rally has a bright future ahead of it. With seven freshmen, headlined by a pair of top 50 recruits with Henderson and Dante Allen, it’s not too far-fetched to believe they will be back in March Madness sooner rather than later.
I predict the Canes’ MVP to be Malik Reneau. He comes in with plenty of experience from the Big Ten over the past three seasons, and his leadership in the frontcourt will be crucial for Miami. Reneau is a strong, big man who can score and grab rebounds in the paint. This season is a chance for him to increase his draft stock in the second round.
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