Panthers optimistic following dismal last season
There’s optimism … and then there’s FIU men’s basketball coach Jeremy Ballard, who is hyped about the upcoming season, which starts with a tough challenge on Nov. 9 at the Georgia Bulldogs.
“This is,” Ballard said, “the biggest, longest, deepest and most-talented team we’ve had in my three years at FIU.”
Ballard’s first two seasons at FIU represent the best start ever by a Panthers men’s basketball coach. In his first season, the Panthers went 20-14 — one win short of the FIU record — and that included an impressive
10-8 mark in Conference USA.
In the second season under Ballard, FIU (19-13, 9-9) had won its first-round game in the C-USA tournament when COVID canceled the season.
Last season, though, the Panthers struggled, finishing 9-17 and 2-15.
“The wheels came off — COVID, injuries,” Ballard said. “But I won’t say ‘woe is me,’ because everyone had to deal with [the pandemic]. All I will say is that last year was last year.”
Ballard’s optimism regarding 2021-22 centers on the eight recruits brought in by the Panthers, who finally have the size they have been lacking.
After playing four- or even five-guard lineups, the Panthers this season have a rotation of five reliable big men. That should translate into a lineup that features three guards and two forwards/ centers.
The point guard is Tevin
Brewer, who averaged 9.0 points and a team-high 4.2 assists. He’s listed as 5-foot-8, but 5-6 is more likely.
“He might as well be 7-6,” Ballard said of Brewer’s grit. “He’s our engine.”
Brewer is FIU’s fastest player and its best passer. He and Eric Lovett are the team’s best shooters.
Lovett, a 6-5 wing, averaged 10.5 points and led FIU with 51 three-pointers. He shot 33.1 percent (Brewer made 49 deep ones and shot 38.3 percent).
“Eric can be as lethal a shooter as anyone in the conference,” Ballard said.
Isaiah Banks, another 6-5 wing, missed 17 games last season and averaged 5.6 points, but he, too, earns high praise from Ballard.
“I’ve never had a player in my career that I trust more than Isaiah,” Ballard said. “He’s all about integrity, toughness and the team.”
Banks is FIU’s best on-ball defender and one of its two best leapers.
While FIU’s starting lineup has yet to be determined, it could feature Brewer, Lovett and Banks on the perimeter, with newcomers Seth Pinkney and Clevon Brown inside. Denver Jones also has a shot at cracking the starting lineup.
Pinkney, a transfer from Quinnipiac, is 7-1 with a 7-7 wingspan. He led the nation in two-point field-goal percentage last season, and he gives FIU a lob threat and a rim protector. He averaged 8.0 points, 4.8
rebounds and 2.3 blocks last season.
Brown, a 6-8, 230-pound transfer from Vanderbilt, immediately becomes FIU’s top rebounder and shot-blocker. He started 11 games for Vandy last season, averaging 19.2 minutes.
“It’s not often at our [midmajor] level that you get a Power 5 transfer who has played as much as Clevon has,” Ballard said. “He understands high-level basketball. He’s made an immediate impact on our culture.”
Jones, a 6-4 junior college transfer, is a newcomer who already is FIU’s best driver to the rim. He averaged 19.1 points last season, making 40 percent on three-pointers.
Other players to watch include 6-8 freshman CJ Kelley, who is a terrific leaper; 6-3 Maryland Terps transfer Aquan Smart, who is FIU’s best help defender; and 6-6, 220-pound returner Dante Wilcox, the strongest guy on the team.
Kelley, Wilcox and 6-9 Mohamed Sanogo will join Pinkney and Brown in the big-man rotation.
Ballard said Kelley and 6-8 Miami Dade College transfer Victory Hart “have as much upside” as anyone on the team. Guards Javaunte Hawkins and Petar Krivokapic add depth.
Clearly, Ballard likes his team, including its character. But the league does not share his optimism, as FIU has been picked to finish 13th in the 14-team league.