# 2017–18 FIU Panthers men's basketball team

The 2017–18 FIU Panthers men's basketball team represented Florida International University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by fifth-year head coach Anthony Evans, played their home games at FIU Arena in Miami, Florida as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 14–18, 8–10 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They lost in the first round of the C-USA tournament to Southern Miss.
On April 2, 2018, FIU fired head coach Anthony Evans after five seasons. On April 20, the school announced VCU associate head coach Jeremy Ballard was hired as the new head coach.

## Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2016–17 season 7–24, 3–15 in C-USA play to finish in 13th place. They failed to qualify for the C-USA tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Michael Kessens | 0 | F | 6'9" | 228 | RS Senior | Nyon, Switzerland | Graduated |
| Elmo Stephen | 1 | F | 6'7" | 200 | Senior | Auburndale, FL | Graduated |
| Donte McGill | 2 | G | 6'3" | 185 | Senior | Newark, DE | Graduated |
| Kimar Williams | 4 | G | 6'1" | 170 | Sophomore | Philadelphia, PA | Transferred to Rider |
| Anthony Boswell | 11 | G | 6'6" | 205 | Senior | Bronx, NY | Graduated |
| Eric Nottage | 12 | G | 6'2" | 180 | Senior | Miami, FL | Graduated |
| Richard Bievens | 20 | F | 6'9" | 205 | Junior | Bakersfield, CA | Graduate transferred to Slippery Rock (PA) |
| Cameron Smith | 24 | F | 6'7" | 210 | Junior | Tallahassee, FL | Graduate transferred to James Madison |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Josh Stamps | 0 | G | 6'5" | 180 | Junior | Chicago, IL | Junior college transferred from Trinity Valley CC |
| Trejon Jacob | 3 | G | 6'4" | | Sophomore | Raleigh, NC | Junior college transferred from Seminole State College |
| Brian Beard Jr. | 4 | G | 5'10" | 175 | Junior | Rancho Cucamonga, CA | Junior college transferred from Chaffey College |
| Willy Nunez | 20 | G | 6'6" | | Junior | Orlando, FL | Junior college transferred from Indian River State College |
| Elhadji Dieng | 22 | C | 6'11" | 230 | Junior | Senegal | Junior college transferred from Sheridan College |

### Recruiting class of 2017

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Cordell Veira PG | Etobioke, ON | John Polanyi Collegiate Inst | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Feb 26, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Kasper Christiansen PF | Woodstock, VA | Massanutten Military Academy | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Isaiah Banks SG | Conyers, GA | Heritage High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 11, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Florida Memorial | W 70–47 | 1–0 | FIU Arena (731) Miami, FL |
| Nov 12, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Stetson | L 64–70 $^{OT}$ | 1–1 | FIU Arena (605) Miami, FL |
| Nov 17, 2017* 6:30 pm | | vs. Elon Black & Gold Shootout | L 87–95 $^{3OT}$ | 1–2 | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,686) Milwaukee, WI |
| Nov 18, 2017* 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Milwaukee Black & Gold Shootout | L 51–66 | 1–3 | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,313) Milwaukee, WI |
| Nov 19, 2017* 2:00 pm | | vs. Concordia–Saint Paul Black & Gold Shootout | W 77–67 | 2–3 | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,103) Milwaukee, WI |
| Nov 27, 2017* 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | South Carolina | L 61–78 | 2–4 | FIU Arena (1,335) Miami, FL |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Florida National | W 79–61 | 3–4 | FIU Arena (683) Miami, FL |
| Dec 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | South Alabama | W 87–58 | 4–4 | FIU Arena (653) Miami, FL |
| Dec 11, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at South Florida | W 65–53 | 5–4 | USF Sun Dome (2,040) Tampa, FL |
| Dec 13, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at North Florida | L 85–87 | 5–5 | UNF Arena (1,479) Jacksonville, FL |
| Dec 16, 2017* 5:30 pm | | James Madison | L 67–76 | 5–6 | FIU Arena (620) Miami, FL |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Florida Gulf Coast | W 91–88 | 6–6 | FIU Arena (509) Miami, FL |
| Dec 22, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Hartford | L 72–79 | 6–7 | FIU Arena (497) Miami, FL |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| Dec 30, 2017 7:00 pm | | Florida Atlantic | W 58–57 | 7–7 (1–0) | FIU Arena (589) Miami, FL |
| Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm | | Middle Tennessee | L 66–71 $^{OT}$ | 7–8 (1–1) | FIU Arena (468) Miami, FL |
| Jan 6, 2018 7:00 pm | | UAB | L 64–75 | 7–9 (1–2) | FIU Arena (515) Miami, FL |
| Jan 11, 2018 8:00 pm | | at UTSA | W 79–76 | 8–9 (2–2) | Convocation Center (1,218) San Antonio, TX |
| Jan 13, 2018 9:00 pm | | at UTEP | L 68–72 | 8–10 (2–3) | Don Haskins Center (6,074) El Paso, TX |
| Jan 18, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Old Dominion | L 54–64 | 8–11 (2–4) | FIU Arena (1,681) Miami, FL |
| Jan 20, 2018 7:00 pm | | Charlotte | W 79–59 | 9–11 (3–4) | FIU Arena (2,195) Miami, FL |
| Jan 25, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Rice | L 64–73 | 9–12 (3–5) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,485) Houston, TX |
| Jan 27, 2018 6:00 pm | | at North Texas | L 67–69 $^{OT}$ | 9–13 (3–6) | The Super Pit (2,096) Denton, TX |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm | | Southern Miss | W 76–70 | 10–13 (4–6) | FIU Arena (1,263) Miami, FL |
| Feb 3, 2018 7:00 pm | | Louisiana Tech | W 71–68 | 11–13 (5–6) | FIU Arena (2,463) Miami, FL |
| Feb 8, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Marshall | L 66–76 | 11–14 (5–7) | Cam Henderson Center (5,078) Huntington, WV |
| Feb 10, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Western Kentucky | L 76–83 | 11–15 (5–8) | E. A. Diddle Arena (6,429) Bowling Green, KY |
| Feb 17, 2018 2:00 pm | | at Florida Atlantic | L 72–77 | 11–16 (5–9) | FAU Arena (1,198) Boca Raton, FL |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm | | North Texas | W 69–68 | 12–16 (6–9) | FIU Arena (2,163) Miami, FL |
| Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm | | Rice | W 67–64 | 13–16 (7–9) | FIU Arena (4,580) Miami, FL |
| Mar 1, 2018 7:30 pm | | at Charlotte | W 89–83 | 14–16 (8–9) | Dale F. Halton Arena (3,305) Charlotte, NC |
| Mar 3, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Old Dominion | L 53–79 | 14–17 (8–10) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (7,879) Norfolk, VA |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 2018 6:00 pm, Stadium | (8) | vs. (9) Southern Miss First round | L 68–69 | 14–18 | The Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||