As FIU football falters, basketball rises

By now most FIU fans have gotten weary of the performance put forth by their football team. The few that attend the games are becoming less supportive of a losing team.

Well, rest assured because we are on the eve of basketball season here at FIU, and that means we will be given two teams that will win plenty of games and give you even more reasons to stick around to watch them play.

Fans, you won’t be able to make the “they don’t win, so I don’t watch excuse,” with either the men’s or women’s basketball teams. Both are coming off stellar seasons; the women are fresh off a postseason run to the WNIT and the men are a basket or two removed from the NCAA Tournament.

The women’s team, led by senior Jerica Coley, made their second-consecutive trip to the WNIT after posting a 19-13 record. The men, led by senior Tymell Murphy, finished 18-14 and were three points shy of their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1995.

So these two teams win, and that alone should entice fans to go watch. But if they need a little more convincing, I can provide that, as well.

Coley is a reigning two-time All-American and Conference Player of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference, and has already been voted the Preseason Conference Player of the Year in Conference USA without having played a minute in C-USA.

The All-American has also been honored with multiple awards in this off-season. Coley has been recognized as one of 60 men’s and women’s basketball student-athletes who prosper both on and off the court by being named a candidate for the Senior CLASS award. The standout was also named a “Wade Watch” honoree and was named to the John R. Wooden Top 30 List.

Now for the men. Murphy is coming off a very successful season in which he averaged 14.6 points per game while snatching down 6.8 rebounds per contest. Last season, Murphy started all but one of the Panthers 32 games and shot a team-best 57 percent from the field. His consistent play earned him a First-Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection.

Like Coley, Murphy received some preseason recognition from the coaches in C-USA. The senior was selected as one of the 16 Preseason Players to Watch for the upcoming season.

Both basketball teams will provide plenty of things to watch out for this season. Coley and her squad are looking to get past the WNIT and earn a berth into the NCAA Tournament. Coley’s trek for her first bid into the Big Dance should be nothing less than epic. While Murphy and his team, no matter how good they play, won’t play in the postseason due to low APR scores they will definitely play the role of spoilers when it comes to other prominent teams in the C-USA. I cannot imagine a situation where a high-ranking C-USA team will want to face off against Murphy and a team with absolutely nothing to lose.

“They’re not exciting and they don’t win,” is what a lot of fans use as excuses when watching football here at FIU, but those excuses won’t come into play anymore as basketball season is upon us.

About Post Author

About the Author

Ruben Palacios
is the Assistant News Director of FIU student media, a sports junkie and a sneaker enthusiast. Not necessarily in that order. Loves the L.A. Lakers and Oakland Raiders. In that order.