By Steven Melendez/Staff Writer
Junior forward Michael Douglas is one of the few upperclassmen returning to the FIU men’s basketball roster from last season and is expecting to have a much bigger role for the upcoming season.
“It’s important that I have a better leadership role,” said Douglas. “Take more responsibility on the team and make sure everybody is on the right track.”
There are seven total new players coming in either as freshmen or transfers, and getting the team integrated with the new system before the season begins is important for the squad.
Douglas believes the transition for the new players has gone really smooth.
“Everybody is doing pretty well. We all gel together really well too,” said Douglas. “For everyone to be new, it’s like we’ve been playing together for some time. We already have the chemistry.”
Douglas played in 30 of the 31 games last season and started in two of them. He averaged 2.8 points and 1.2 rebounds per game in 12 minutes per game. Douglas showed progress in his sophomore season as he received a bigger workload and saw all his stats and efficiency increase.
Having their top four scorers from last season graduated, the team is definitely hoping for some returning players to take on a more offensive role. Douglas is ahead of the game as he’s worked on his handling and driving this offseason, so he can create better looks for himself and his teammates.
After going 7-24 last season, Douglas and the rest of the FIU Panthers have one thing on their minds and that’s to win. They are looking forward to changing the narrative that has been surrounding this program for some time now.
“We definitely want to get to the conference tournament at the end of the season and just win,” said Douglas.
A return to the C-USA conference tournament would be considered a success, so you have to like how these players are thinking.
The goals this team has set for this season should get you excited for what’s to come, so get ready to go out and support FIU basketball.
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