No Sophomore Slump for FIU Guard Arturo Dean

MIAMI, FL – FIU Men’s Basketball head coach Jeremy Ballard has pounded the table talking about sophomore guard Arturo Dean.

Literally.

After another solid performance that saw him record a career-high 27 points in a 74-59 win over Long Island, Ballard asserted his appreciation for Dean while reading off his box score.

“He can put up an amazing stat line like that because he doesn’t care about stats,” Ballard said, hitting the table that he was speaking from after every word during his postgame comments last week.

Dean is coming off the C-USA Freshman of the Year award in 2022-23 – the first Panther to ever earn the honor – and is already making a case for himself before the conference schedule even begins.

Through 10 games, the Miami native leads the Panthers in points per game (14.1), rebounds per game (4.4), and assists per game.

His 45 steals lead the entire country by a significant margin. Ten of those came in a record-breaking performance against Florida Gulf Coast on Nov. 29 in which he set a program record for steals.

Despite his hot start to the year, Ballard said this isn’t even what his peak will be.

“He’s still got a lot of room for growth, and that’s what’s special,” Ballard said. “It sounds counterintuitive, but when you don’t care about what happens to you individually, and you just care about the team, great things happen to you individually. And as a young man who’s not even midway through the second year of his career, and to understand that, that’s special.”

Dean was named Conference USA Player of the Week on December 4th, just after FIU began their bye week thanks to his career-best performances against Florida Gulf Coast and Long Island.

The 5’9 point guard was recruited by a few schools in Florida and the southeast, including FGCU and Stetson. When asked how his relationship with his head coach helped him take the extra step this year, Dean said it was a matter of belief.

“Him trusting me, teaching me, helping me learn throughout this whole experience, and taking it all in, on and off the court,” Dean said. “So just bringing that onto the court just boosts my confidence, knowing that my coach has all his trust in me. So it means a lot to me.”

Ballard said Dean’s ability to play with energy and attitude despite his undersized frame is what draws fans to him, including his young son.

“(My son) adores Arturo,” Ballard said. “Every child that watches FIU play is obsessed with him, because he plays with an infectious energy, with a passion, with a joy that they can all connect to. Not everyone can relate to this guy with the shoulders of Adonis who could jump out the gym.

“But we can all relate to someone that’s kind of our size, the smallest guy out there on the court, but plays like the biggest guy. To know Arturo is to love him. To watch him play is to fall in love with his joy and passion for the game. And that’s representative of who we want our program to be about.”