Christopher Rodriguez | Staff Writer
The FIU men’s basketball season is just around the corner and with new faces and a renewed mentally, the Panthers are looking to make a statement in the conference.
“We’re going to be aggressive in everything we do and we’re going to try to put on a show every time for the fans. We’re ready to go have the best season in school history this year,” said men’s basketball coach Jeremy Ballard about the upcoming season.
Looking on to last year, where the Panthers held out as much as they could and reached a somewhat balanced 7-8 record at home but were only able to secure one win away.
As he looks forward to the upcoming season, Coach Ballard was optimistic about his squad. “We brought in a lot of skill and a lot of athleticism, both which really fit into our system. We feel that we’ve got good shooting, good skill, good depth, we want to be even better on defensive rebounding, both of which were really strong for us last year,” said Ballard to PantherNOW.
FIU fell short of Conference USA tournament success last season. The Panthers were only able to secure three wins within their conference out of their 18 total conference games and were only able to obtain one win in the Conference tournament.
Overall, the Panthers finished last year’s season with a cumulative record of 10-23, leaving them last in the standings in the conference.
However, this is a brand new slate for FIU men’s basketball and will bring new players, both transfers or freshmen. New Mexico State transfer, Zawdie Jackson, will bring FIU more attacks in the perimeter and will elevate the free throw percentage.
Thiago Sucatzky, a Freshman from Divine Savior Academy , will have potential to increase in assists with FIU considering he had a season total of 164 assists in 2023-24 and was assist leader in the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025 with Argentina.
The Panthers will start off against Florida National University on Nov. 3 at Ocean Bank Convocation Center. Following that game, FIU will face two Power Conference teams, the Big Ten Nebraska Cornhuskers on Nov. 8 and from the Southeastern Conference LSU Tigers on Nov. 13. FIU will also play their ACC regional rivals, the Miami Hurricanes, on Dec. 6.
Starting Dec. 28, FIU will be playing back to back Conference USA teams beginning with 2024-25 Conference USA Champions Liberty Flames at home. Panthers will also introduce both new teams entering the conference, Missouri State Grizzlies on Jan.10 and the Delaware Blue Hens on Feb. 12.
My Prediction: Based on recruiting more shooters like Julian Mackay, I feel like FIU will improve their record from last year’s performance. However, when it comes to conference ranking I predict the Panthers will be in the top 5 of Conference USA.
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