MIAMI, FL – The 2024-25 FIU Men’s Basketball regular season turned out to be a huge disappointment. They did get a surprise victory over Western Kentucky in the first round of the Conference USA tournament. Eventually, their luck ran out as they lost to Jacksonville State the next day in the quarterfinals.
FIU finished 10-23 overall, with just three of those wins coming in CUSA play. The Panthers look to turn the page as the 2025-26 season is on the horizon. Here’s the Paws Up Men’s Basketball season preview.
Year Eight for Coach Ballard
Head coach Jeremy Ballard has been at FIU for a long time now. The Atlanta native is entering his eighth season under the helm as the Panthers’ coach. His first two seasons got off to great starts in his coaching career at FIU.
Ballard went 20-14 in 2018-19, taking his team to the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason tournament. He posted a 19-13 record in 2019-20, where his team reached the Conference USA tournament quarterfinals.
Ballard has never been able to replicate that success since. The FIU Panthers enter the 2025-26 season with five straight losing seasons.
Ready to run through a brick wall 🧱😤 pic.twitter.com/4gKV6lIspR
— FIU Men's Basketball (@FIUHoops) October 14, 2025
Projected Starters
Zawdie Jackson – Guard
Jackson started in all of his contests for NM State and averaged 27.7 minutes per game. He led his team with 99 assists and had the highest three-point range with a 37.6% mark. Expect the senior to once again be a playmaker and take charge of the floor when he’s on the court.
Ashton Williamson – Guard
Coach Ballard can build his lineups around Ashton Williamson since both already have that coach/player relationship. He averaged 24.3 minutes per game and started in 16 of his 33 games as a freshman. Williamson led the team with 89 assists, and I expect his leadership role to increase.
Brit Harris – Guard
Harris is another player who can compete for a starting guard position. He started in half of his appearances at USC Upstate and led the team with a .490 field goal percentage (125/255) while shooting from .373 from downtown (41/110), and .891 from the charity stripe (57/64).
Corey Stephenson – Guard/Forward
Being a versatile player, it would be hard not to see Corey Stephenson on Ballard’s starting 5 every game. He started in all but two games last season for CSU Bakersfield. Stephenson led the team with 181 rebounds and finished second with 35 steals. He also averaged over 26 minutes.
Eric Dibami – Forward
Dibami has made a name for himself in the local high school basketball scene. He has earned MVP honors in the Big Shot Post Grad National Tournament, SIAA Regional Conference, and Miami-Dade All-Star Game. His depth will be key in the frontcourt.
Competed for the first time together this weekend 💪 pic.twitter.com/1H7ycZKDS9
— FIU Men's Basketball (@FIUHoops) October 19, 2025
Role Players
Thiago Sucatzky – Guard
He has already impressed with his impressive showing at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup. Sucatzky dished out 15 assists in one game, a competition record. The Panthers have themselves a secret weapon who will surprise teams.
Julian Mackey – Guard
Mackey made 27 starts in 31 games and led Houston Christian in scoring with 15 points per game. He converted on 36.4% of his shots from the three-point line and made 78.4% of his free-throw shots. Julian Mackey had 10 games where he scored 20+ points.
Amarion Nimmers – Guard
The redshirted junior made 23 starts in 30 contests for the University of Tampa last season. He finished second in team scoring with 426 points while shooting for 41.4% from the floor (158/382) and 36.4% from behind the arc (75/206).
Renato Ruiz – Guard
The graduate student averaged 2.7 minutes in six games last season. Ruiz scored a career-high of seven points in 10 minutes in one contest.
Hamed “Larry” Olayinka – Forward
Given his size, one can expect to see Olayinka battle for the starting center position. He provides some decent scoring abilities, having shot for 65.1 percent (56/86) last season, but he will be counted on more for his defense. Hamed Olayinka had a season-best of seven rebounds in one game and notched four blocks in two games.
Gvidas Gicevicius – Forward
Having already used two years of eligibility internationally, Gicevicius shot 41.1% from the field and 33% from 3 last season.
Kennedy Brown – Forward
The fifth-year player logged a season-high of 19 points and 36 minutes in the same contest last year for Roosevelt. Brown averaged 6.4 points and 5.2 rebounds.
Olajuwon Ibrahim – Forward
The junior will seek to bounce back from a season that was cut short due to injury. Ibrahim only played in three games last season.
Jorge Santos – Forward
This is his first year playing at the D1 level. Santos is a redshirt senior who graduated from G. Holmes Braddock High School.
the season’s just around the corner 🤟 pic.twitter.com/kKzmep4rXz
— FIU Men's Basketball (@FIUHoops) October 15, 2025
Stand Out Games
the grind starts here 👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/yFg7Ytuytu
— FIU Men's Basketball (@FIUHoops) September 23, 2025
November 8 – at Nebraska Cornhuskers
The Cornhuskers are the reigning Diamond Head Classic and College Basketball Crown champions. FIU’s first test will come on the road. Nebraska did lose some key players, but they added back some talent through the portal who shouldn’t be overlooked.
December 3 – vs Florida Gulf Coast Eagles
The Eagles reached the College Basketball Invitational semifinals. FGCU will once again be great team in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The last few years may have been inconsistent but they’ve generally rostered some good teams before.
December 16 – at Miami Hurricanes
The battle of the 305 continues, as FIU’s lone win in the series was back in 1992. The Hurricanes have new coach Jai Lucas and have revamped their roster with transfers and international players. They could make a run for the ACC tournament.
December 28 – vs Liberty and February 19 – at Flames
The Flames won the CUSA tournament and made a March Madness appearance. Liberty has 11 first-place votes to win the conference again. Ritchie McKay is back for this 13th season, and his team looks to go even deeper into March.
January 2 – vs New Mexico State and January 24 at Aggies
The Aggies seek to keep improving in conference play, as last season they fell short of a deep CUSA tournament run. New Mexico State had roster overhaul but look a lot better on both sides of the ball. They should finish somewhere in the 20-win column.
January 14 – at Kennesaw State Owls
The Owls rank second in the Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll and arguably have the best player in Conference USA. Guard Simeon Cottle scored a career-best 18 points per game and then they have forward Braedan Lue, an all-freshman who was exceptional.
February 9 – at Middle Tennessee and March 5 vs Blue Raiders
MTSU reached the CUSA quarterfinals, along with the National Invitational Tournament. The basketball program at Middle Tennessee trended in the right direction last season and things shouldn’t be any different here in 2025-26.
Prediction & MVP
2025-26 CUSA Men's Basketball Preseason Poll 🏀#NoLimitsOnUs | https://t.co/c1FaNA7ZMx pic.twitter.com/6ieAilJooP
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) October 9, 2025
The Panthers can only go up from here on out. I predict them to finish with a better record this season at 14-19. For a program that hasn’t made the NCAA tournament in 20 years, they need to take baby steps and win where it matters most.
They are listed at #10 in the Conference USA preseason polling, ahead of just Delaware and Missouri State, who are in their first seasons in the conference. Conference wins will be crucial for the Panthers to make a postseason run. I would expect FIU to double its CUSA win total from last season to six.
Losing their top five scorers from last season certainly doesn’t help matters. Everyone except for Ashton Williamson is either a freshman or a transfer. The transfers do bring experience, but they will need to build chemistry and consistency if they expect to make any noise this season.
Expect FIU’s backcourt to really step up its game. Brit Harris, Zawdie Jackson, Corey Stephenson, and Julian Mackey each averaged over 10 points a game last season. That’s nearly 50 points per game of offense from these four players.
FIU will need to work on improving its ability to close out games and win on the road. They won just one road game last season, and the majority of their losses were by double digits. The ability to cling onto tight leads late into ball games is what determines their fate and their ability to hang on with the teams in the top half of the conference.
I predict the team’s MVP this season will be Corey Stephenson. The forward/guard can pretty much do it all. It wouldn’t surprise me if he led the Panthers in points, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, rebounds, assists, or steals. His height and skill set are enough to make him a player to watch for the Panthers.
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