Panthers banned for postseason

Photo by Roberto Jimenez

Column by Patrick Chalvire

It was only a matter of time until FIU would feel the wrath of the NCAA. On Tuesday afternoon, the NCAA released their annual academic progress ratings (APR), with FIU, along with 18 other schools, receiving postseason bans.

The future looked bright for the Panthers’, completing one of the schools best seasons in more than a decade and making it to the conference championship game, before falling to Western Kentucky. Instead the Panthers’ are already set to finish the end of next season at home watching their opponents fight in the conference tournament.

The Men’s Basketball team is the only program in the school with a multi-year score of under 900, spanning between the years of 2008-2012. The Panthers’ recorded a score of 858.

The ban itself didn’t come as a surprise. Such action having been expected for a year now, mostly after the firing of former coach Isaiah Thomas. The 2010-11 season saw an APR score of 833, only to drop even lower in 2011-12 with a score of 750, according to the NCAA.

Not only will the basketball team, now under new head coach Anthony Evans, not be allowed to participate in the Conference USA tournament, they will also receive a reduction in practice time.

The Panthers’ will also be limited to five days and 16 hours of practice time a week. Such consequences though do not come as a surprise to Evans. Evans, while at Norfolk State, faced similar circumstances during his tenure.

Before the official news of the postseason ban, the Panthers’ had already felt the losses of guard Malik Smith, who followed in former coach Rick Pitinos footsteps to Minnesota, as well as Deric Hill and Juan Ferrales, who signed with Division two Barry University.

Isaiah Thomas’ time at FIU definitely hurt the program, but with the worst already upon us, the Panthers’ will have to continue the success of last season and begin to rebuild a program headed into a new conference.

 

 

About the Author

Patrick Chalvire
: Radio Host for Panther Sports Talk Live. Assistant Sports Director for The Beacon. Majoring in Communication Arts. Sports fan and aspiring anchor.

2 Comments on "Panthers banned for postseason"

  1. All I can say is… good.

    This is a UNIVERSITY. Academics come first. We can’t use athletics as an excuse to allow poor performance in the classroom where it counts.

    Get those grades up where they should be. It’s just like when you were a kid… Gotta do your homework before you can go out and play.

  2. William Lloyd | July 10, 2013 at 2:24 PM | Reply

    Poor academic performance within any area of a university’s athletic department doesn’t happen overnight. It’s an issue that begins with the recruiting process and continues with a lack of monitoring and reasonable/appropriate support for the student athlete. Playing “statistical games” with what player left and how their departure impacted the team’s APR is condescending and manipulative. The NCAA guideline (minimum acceptable APR) has been in place for some time and the athletics department has surely been aware of those guidelines.

    That said, it’s time to move forward to rebuild the academic performance of the basketball program along with any others that may also be falling below the “minimums.” At some point, and it may have already occurred, the loss of practice time and restriction from post season play will impact recruiting efforts. We should be clear about how student athletes academic performance is being monitored and what support mechanisms (tutoring, etc.) are in place. Such information would benefit our recruiters and make it clear to the community that we are interested in developing well-rounded student athletes and programs that are built on a strong academic footing.

    Let’s move ahead and use this punishment as the jumping off point to build a stronger athletics department that reflects our academic mission.

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