The 2022-2023 Miami Hurricanes basketball team made program history by punching their ticket to the Final Four when they beat the No. 2 seeded Texas Longhorns in a battle to the end. This electric tournament run from the No. 5 seeded Hurricanes, led by NBA guards Isiah Wong and Jordan Miller, unfortunately came to an end when they lost to the soon-to-be National Champions, the No. 4 seeded UConn Huskies.
Things were looking bright for the future of Miami basketball after their season, especially after they landed five-star shooting guard Jalil Bethea. However, last season was a massive letdown in every way for the Canes. They played less than half their games with their original starting five and injuries plagued the team all year. Going 15-17 and losing their last 10 games resulted in over half the team transferring. Key pieces like Norchad Omier, Wooga Poplar, and Bensley Joseph all entered the transfer portal after last season. Now, only one remains from the amazing Final Four caliber team from only two years ago; three in total from last season.
However, after a long offseason, the Hurricanes are back. Coach Jim Laranaga has brought in high-level talent from all over the country and they are ready to compete. Six transfers, five freshman, these are your 2024-2025 Hurricanes:
Nijel Pack – Guard – SR
The only remaining Cane from their deep tournament run in 2022, Pack looks to bounce back from a frustrating campaign last year where he was in and out of the lineup because of lingering injuries to his ankle and knee. When discussing the Final Four run with CaneSport TV, Pack said, “(That was) a couple of years back – I want to bring it back this year. We have a lot of seniors, this is their last chance, and a lot of them haven’t played in the Tournament before. I want to make it special for our seniors.” It’s a great experience to be a part of and he has the opportunity to be the leader for this team that Wong and Miller were for him just two years ago.
Jalen Blackmon – Guard – SR
Blackmon, a transfer from Stetson who before that played for Grand Canyon, is ready to make a difference in the backcourt alongside Pack and Bethea. Last season for the Stetson Hatters, Blackmon averaged 21 points per game and was the team’s leading scorer by a margin of seven points. He was also named First Team All-ASUN which made him one of the most pursued transfers this offseason.
Jalil Bethea – Guard – FR
This incoming freshman from Archbishop Wood in Philadelphia brings an elite dribbling and scoring package to the Hurricanes. Jalil Bethea was a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 2 shooting guard and No. 7 overall player in his class. He committed to Miami in the summer after the Canes’ Final Four run, making him the program’s highest-ranked player to commit to Miami since 1985. In his last year in high school, in 2024, he was a McDonald’s All-American, the McDonald’s Slam Dunk Contest Winner, the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year, a Naismith Second Team All-American, and the Pennsylvania Sports Writers Class 6A Player of the Year.
Divine Ugochukwu – Guard – FR
Another true freshman coming to Miami is Divine Ugochukwu from Clements High School in Sugar Land, Texas. 99 brings a relentless personality to this roster, always hustling back on defense and staying disciplined throughout each and every possession. Coming out of high school, Ugochukwu was listed as a 3-star recruit and a top-20 player in the state of Texas.
Austin Swartz – Guard – FR
Austin Swartz, another Top 10 shooting guard that Miami recruited in the 2024 class, looks to bring even more scoring to the Canes after he was ranked third among all players in scoring on the 2023 Nike EYBL circuit, averaging 21.0 points per game. Additionally, he averaged 26 points as a senior, and 23 as a junior, leading Cannon School in Concord, North Carolina to a CISAA conference championship in 2022-23. Swartz picked Miami over UConn, Houston, and Indiana.
A.J. Staton-McCray – Foward – JR
The redshirt junior joins the Canes after spending four years at Samford. However, he only played three games in one of those seasons after he was sidelined due to injury. Staton-McCray posted a solid campaign at Samford, playing more of a defensive guard role standing at 6″4. Last season he earned his spot on the Southern Conference All-Defensive team and the Southern Conference Third Team.
Matthew Cleveland – Forward – SR
Matthew Cleveland is one of three Hurricanes still on the roster after last year’s frustrating season. Cleveland, who formerly played for FSU, averaged 13 points and six assists last season, which ranked second in scoring for Miami behind Norchad Omier, who transferred to Baylor this offseason. Cleveland should have no problem ramping up early on this season since he ended last year on a six-game double-digit scoring streak.
Paul Djobet – Forward – SR
Paul Djobet is the last one left from last season, along with Pack and Cleveland. From Lille, France, just about a two-hour drive from Paris, Djobet moved to Georgia where he led Solid Rock Academy to a GISA state championship while also earning GISA Player of the Year in both his sophomore and junior seasons. In his senior year, he moved to Florida where he attended West Oaks Academy in Orlando. He became a top 15 player in the state and a four-star recruit after he was named SIAA Player of the Year and to the First Team All-State honors. As a freshman at Miami, he only started one out of his sixteen games played which came against Duke in February. Djobet looks to take a large jump in his role this season after the transfer of most of Miami’s roster from last season.
Isaiah Johnson-Arigu – Forward- FR
Johnson-Arigu is another young buck that Larañaga that will develop into a refined starter over time. Johnson-Arigu was a four-star recruit out of high school as well as the No. 3 overall recruit in the state of Minnesota. Miami was the last school to send an offer to Johnson-Arigu, but that’s where he chose as his home after leading Totino-Grace High School to three state Class 3A state titles.
Brandon Johnson – Forward – SR
Johnson, the two-sport athlete in high school, started his collegiate career at Brunswick Community College in North Carolina, the state in which he grew up. As a transfer in 2021, he stayed close to home going to Eastern Carolina University where he was named to the AAC Weekly Honor Roll three times in 2023-2024 while finishing second on the team in scoring and leading the team in rebounding while starting all 31 games. Considering he has been at the top of his class throughout his whole academic career, he should mesh perfectly with one of the smartest coaches in college basketball.
Lynn Kidd – Center – SR
Last year, Lynn Kidd had a career year scoring over 400 points which is much more than under 200, which is what he posted in his first two seasons combined. Kidd was still able to keep the best shooting percentage in the ACC, registering 26 games where he shot at least 50% from the field. He looks to play an authoritative inside role at 6″10. His height is something Miami lacked in past years with their starting center, Norchad Omier, standing at around 6″7. In his first game for the Canes this year, Kidd put up 24 points and nine rebounds in a dominant victory over Fairleigh Dickinson.
Kiree Huie – Center – SR
Huie was under the radar when he entered the transfer portal this offseason, earning no rankings or stars from 247 Sports. Huie has yet to make his Miami debut after suffering a hand injury this summer. Last season at Idaho State, he totaled 21 double-digit point outings and started in 32 of 34 games played. It is unknown what impact he will have on Miami, as he is expected to miss a large part of the season with the aforementioned injury to his hand.
Yussif Basa-Ama – Center – SR
After spending his first four years of collegiate eligibility at Yale University, the Ghanaian Center is ready for a fresh start in Miami. Arriving in West Palm Beach after leaving Ghana when he was 11, Basa-Ama was named 2020 Class 3A Player of the Year and 2020 Palm Beach Most Valuable Player while leading Saint Andrew’s to the Florida state championship as a senior. He was listed as a three-star transfer this offseason and has played three minutes in his first two games with the Hurricanes.