CUSA Announces FIU Basketball Tipoff/Media Day Participants

Conference USA has announced the 2025 CUSA Basketball Tipoff and Media Day participants for both the FIU Men’s and Women’s teams.

The ESPN+ show will air on Tuesday, October 14, at 1pm Eastern Time. Conference USA Commissioner Judy MacLeod, along with head coaches and players from each school, will participate in the event to preview their upcoming seasons.

Hoops season is just around the corner 🏀

Join us on Tuesday, Oct. 14 for our Basketball Tipoff Show live on ESPN+.#NoLimitsOnUs | https://t.co/Gai9MqbllB pic.twitter.com/St8BIi7tHh

— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) September 25, 2025

The show’s host is Matt Warner, while the analysts are Kelly Deyo and Paul Nazigian. Jeremy Ballard and Corey Stephenson will represent the men’s side, while Jesyka Burks-Wiley and Judit Valero will represent the women’s side.

It was also announced that the 2026 CUSA Basketball Championships will return to Huntsville, Alabama, from March 10 to 14.

Jeremy Ballard and Corey Stephenson

Ballard is entering his eighth season as the program’s head coach, which is the second-longest tenure in school history.

The Atlanta native has a 98-124 record and is 1-1 in the CIT. He graduated from Colgate in Hamilton, New York, where he played college basketball and earned his bachelor’s degree in English as well as a minor in religion.

Stephenson is entering his senior season of college, and his first at Florida International University.

The Bessemer, Alabama native is coming off two years at California State University, Bakersfield, where he averaged 11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds in over 26.0 minutes last season.

Jesyka Burks-Wiley and Judit Valero

Burks-Wiley is entering her sixth season as the program’s head coach, which is also now the second-longest tenure in FIU’s history.

The Kansas City native has a 76-79 record and graduated from Boston University, where she played college basketball. She has played overseas for teams in Romania, Finland, Portugal, and Belgium.

Make that U20 Eurobasket CHAMPION Judit Valero 🏆 pic.twitter.com/bcGxSGxPSg

— FIU Women’s Basketball (@FIUWBB) August 10, 2025

Valero is entering her junior season of college, and her second at FIU. The Barcelona native averaged 4.1 points and 1.1 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per game last season.

She started off her collegiate career at USF and represented Spain at the 2023 U18 FIBA Women’s European Championship.

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Ricardo Urrusuno

He’s a diehard 305 native who roots for his hometown teams in the good, the bad, and the ugly. Recently, he graduated from FIU with an MBA, but now he’s a Lemonhead covering UM basketball. Known to be anywhere and everywhere, you may catch him at a Miami sporting event.

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