2017–18 FIU Panthers men's basketball team

The 2017–18 FIU Panthers men's basketball team represented Florida International University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by fifth-year head coach Anthony Evans, played their home games at FIU Arena in Miami, Florida as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 14–18, 8–10 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They lost in the first round of the C-USA tournament to Southern Miss.

2017–18 FIU Panthers men's basketball
ConferenceConference USA
Record14–18 (8–10 C-USA)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaFIU Arena
Seasons
2017–18 Conference USA men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Middle Tennessee 16 2   .889 25 8   .758
Old Dominion 15 3   .833 25 7   .781
Western Kentucky 14 4   .778 27 11   .711
Marshall 12 6   .667 25 11   .694
UTSA 11 7   .611 20 15   .571
UAB 10 8   .556 20 13   .606
North Texas 8 10   .444 20 18   .526
FIU 8 10   .444 14 18   .438
Southern Miss 7 11   .389 16 18   .471
Louisiana Tech 7 11   .389 17 16   .515
Florida Atlantic 6 12   .333 12 19   .387
UTEP 6 12   .333 11 20   .355
Rice 4 14   .222 7 24   .226
Charlotte 2 16   .111 6 23   .207
2018 C-USA Tournament winner

On April 2, 2018, FIU fired head coach Anthony Evans after five seasons.[1][2] On April 20, the school announced VCU associate head coach Jeremy Ballard was hired as the new head coach.[3][4]

Previous season

edit

The Panthers finished the 2016–17 season 7–24, 3–15 in C-USA play to finish in 13th place. They failed to qualify for the C-USA tournament.

Offseason

edit

Departures

edit
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Michael Kessens 0 F 6'9" 228 RS Senior Nyon, Switzerland Graduated
Elmo Stephen 1 F 6'7" 200 Senior Auburndale, FL Graduated
Donte McGill 2 G 6'3" 185 Senior Newark, DE Graduated
Kimar Williams 4 G 6'1" 170 Sophomore Philadelphia, PA Transferred to Rider
Anthony Boswell 11 G 6'6" 205 Senior Bronx, NY Graduated
Eric Nottage 12 G 6'2" 180 Senior Miami, FL Graduated
Richard Bievens 20 F 6'9" 205 Junior Bakersfield, CA Graduate transferred to Slippery Rock (PA)
Cameron Smith 24 F 6'7" 210 Junior Tallahassee, FL Graduate transferred to James Madison

Incoming transfers

edit
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Josh Stamps 0 G 6'5" 180 Junior Chicago, IL Junior college transferred from Trinity Valley CC
Trejon Jacob 3 G 6'4" Sophomore Raleigh, NC Junior college transferred from Seminole State College
Brian Beard Jr. 4 G 5'10" 175 Junior Rancho Cucamonga, CA Junior college transferred from Chaffey College
Willy Nunez 20 G 6'6" Junior Orlando, FL Junior college transferred from Indian River State College
Elhadji Dieng 22 C 6'11" 230 Junior Senegal Junior college transferred from Sheridan College

Recruiting class of 2017

edit
US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Cordell Veira
PG
Etobioke, ON John Polanyi Collegiate Inst 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Feb 26, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Kasper Christiansen
PF
Woodstock, VA Massanutten Military Academy 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg)  
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Isaiah Banks
SG
Conyers, GA Heritage High School 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 180 lb (82 kg)  
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 11, 2017.

Roster

edit
2017–18 FIU Panthers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Josh Stamps 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Curie Metropolitan
Trinity Valley CC
Chicago, IL
G 1 Isaiah Banks 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Heritage Conyers, GA
G 2 Cordell Veira 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr John Polanyi Collegiate Inst Etobicoke, ON
G 3 Trejon Jacob 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Millbrook
Seminole State College
Raleigh, NC
G 4 Brian Beard Jr. 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Rancho Cucamonga
Chipola College
Ranch Cucamonga, CA
G 5 Eric Lockett 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 193 lb (88 kg) RS Jr Whitefield Academy
George Mason/Chipola College
Atlanta, GA
F 10 Hassan Hussein 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Jr Mt. Zion Prep Lorton, VA
G 20 Willy Nunez Jr. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Oak Rige
Indian River State College
Orlando, FL
F 21 Kasper Christiansen 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Massanutten Military Acad (VA) Frederiksberg, Denmark
C 22 Elhadji Dieng 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Jr Canarias Basketball Academy
Sheridan College/New Mexico JC
Mbour, Senegal
G 23 Ronald Whitaker 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Sr Riverdale Baptist
Gulf Coast CC/SW Tennessee CC
Washington, D.C.
F 31 Michael Douglas 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Sachse Sachse, TX
F 32 Jay Harvey 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 246 lb (112 kg) RS Jr TF North
Shawnee CC
Chicago, IL
F 34 Osasumwen Osaghae (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 250 lb (113 kg) So Robert Morgan Miami, FL
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

edit
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017*
7:00 pm
Florida Memorial W 70–47  1–0
FIU Arena (731)
Miami, FL
Nov 12, 2017*
7:00 pm
Stetson L 64–70 OT 1–1
FIU Arena (605)
Miami, FL
Nov 17, 2017*
6:30 pm
vs. Elon
Black & Gold Shootout
L 87–95 3OT 1–2
UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,686)
Milwaukee, WI
Nov 18, 2017*
6:30 pm, ESPN3
at Milwaukee
Black & Gold Shootout
L 51–66  1–3
UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,313)
Milwaukee, WI
Nov 19, 2017*
2:00 pm
vs. Concordia–Saint Paul
Black & Gold Shootout
W 77–67  2–3
UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,103)
Milwaukee, WI
Nov 27, 2017*
7:00 pm, CBSSN
South Carolina L 61–78  2–4
FIU Arena (1,335)
Miami, FL
Nov 29, 2017*
7:00 pm
Florida National W 79–61  3–4
FIU Arena (683)
Miami, FL
Dec 2, 2017*
7:00 pm
South Alabama W 87–58  4–4
FIU Arena (653)
Miami, FL
Dec 11, 2017*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at South Florida W 65–53  5–4
USF Sun Dome (2,040)
Tampa, FL
Dec 13, 2017*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at North Florida L 85–87  5–5
UNF Arena (1,479)
Jacksonville, FL
Dec 16, 2017*
5:30 pm
James Madison L 67–76  5–6
FIU Arena (620)
Miami, FL
Dec 19, 2017*
7:00 pm
Florida Gulf Coast W 91–88  6–6
FIU Arena (509)
Miami, FL
Dec 22, 2017*
7:00 pm
Hartford L 72–79  6–7
FIU Arena (497)
Miami, FL
Conference USA regular season
Dec 30, 2017
7:00 pm
Florida Atlantic W 58–57  7–7
(1–0)
FIU Arena (589)
Miami, FL
Jan 4, 2018
7:00 pm
Middle Tennessee L 66–71 OT 7–8
(1–1)
FIU Arena (468)
Miami, FL
Jan 6, 2018
7:00 pm
UAB L 64–75  7–9
(1–2)
FIU Arena (515)
Miami, FL
Jan 11, 2018
8:00 pm
at UTSA W 79–76  8–9
(2–2)
Convocation Center (1,218)
San Antonio, TX
Jan 13, 2018
9:00 pm
at UTEP L 68–72  8–10
(2–3)
Don Haskins Center (6,074)
El Paso, TX
Jan 18, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Old Dominion L 54–64  8–11
(2–4)
FIU Arena (1,681)
Miami, FL
Jan 20, 2018
7:00 pm
Charlotte W 79–59  9–11
(3–4)
FIU Arena (2,195)
Miami, FL
Jan 25, 2018
8:00 pm
at Rice L 64–73  9–12
(3–5)
Tudor Fieldhouse (1,485)
Houston, TX
Jan 27, 2018
6:00 pm
at North Texas L 67–69 OT 9–13
(3–6)
The Super Pit (2,096)
Denton, TX
Feb 1, 2018
7:00 pm
Southern Miss W 76–70  10–13
(4–6)
FIU Arena (1,263)
Miami, FL
Feb 3, 2018
7:00 pm
Louisiana Tech W 71–68  11–13
(5–6)
FIU Arena (2,463)
Miami, FL
Feb 8, 2018
8:00 pm
at Marshall L 66–76  11–14
(5–7)
Cam Henderson Center (5,078)
Huntington, WV
Feb 10, 2018
7:00 pm
at Western Kentucky L 76–83  11–15
(5–8)
E. A. Diddle Arena (6,429)
Bowling Green, KY
Feb 17, 2018
2:00 pm
at Florida Atlantic L 72–77  11–16
(5–9)
FAU Arena (1,198)
Boca Raton, FL
Feb 22, 2018
7:00 pm
North Texas W 69–68  12–16
(6–9)
FIU Arena (2,163)
Miami, FL
Feb 24, 2018
7:00 pm
Rice W 67–64  13–16
(7–9)
FIU Arena (4,580)
Miami, FL
Mar 1, 2018
7:30 pm
at Charlotte W 89–83  14–16
(8–9)
Dale F. Halton Arena (3,305)
Charlotte, NC
Mar 3, 2018
7:00 pm
at Old Dominion L 53–79  14–17
(8–10)
Ted Constant Convocation Center (7,879)
Norfolk, VA
Conference USA tournament
Mar 7, 2018
6:00 pm, Stadium
(8) vs. (9) Southern Miss
First round
L 68–69  14–18
The Ford Center at The Star 
Frisco, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time.

References

edit
  1. ^ "FIU parts ways with coach Evans". gwinettprepsports.com. April 2, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  2. ^ Burke, Peter. "FIU parts ways with basketball coach Anthony Evans". www.local10.com. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  3. ^ Epps Jr., Wayne (April 20, 2018). "VCU associate head coach Jeremy Ballard headed to Florida International". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  4. ^ Times-Dispatch, WAYNE EPPS JR. Richmond. "VCU associate head coach Jeremy Ballard headed to Florida International". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved April 23, 2018.