# 2018–19 FIU Panthers men's basketball team

The 2018–19 FIU Panthers men's basketball team represented Florida International University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by first-year head coach Jeremy Ballard, played their home games at Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami, Florida as members of Conference USA.

## Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2017–18 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.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Josh Stamps | 0 | G | 6'5" | 180 | Junior | Chicago, IL | Graduate transferred to LSU–Shreveport |
| Eric Lockett | 5 | G | 6'5" | 193 | RS Junior | Atlanta, GA | Graduate transferred to NC State |
| Hassan Hussein | 10 | F | 6'9" | 205 | RS Junior | Lorton, VA | Graduate transferred to Southern |
| Ronald Whitaker | 23 | G | 6'7" | 192 | Senior | Washington, D.C. | Graduated |
| Jay Harvey | 32 | F | 6'9" | 246 | RS Junior | Chicago, IL | Graduate transferred to South Dakota |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Marcus Burwell | 11 | G | 6'3" | 170 | Junior | Richmond, VA | Junior college transferred from Northeastern JC |
| Cameron Corcoran | 55 | G | 6'1" | 170 | Sophomore | Orlando, FL | Transferred from Little Rock. Under NCAA transfer rules, Corcoran will have to sit out in the 2018–19 season. Will have three years of eligibility left. |

### Recruiting class of 2018

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Antonio Daye PG | Durham, NC | Riverside High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Jun 17, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Phillip Smith SG | Potomac, MD | Bullis High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Jul 23, 2018 |
| 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: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 21, 2018. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2019

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Dante Wilcox SF | West Palm Beach, FL | Oxbridge Academy | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Aug 29, 2018 |
| 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: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 21, 2018. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 7, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Webber International | W 110–84 | 1–0 | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (877) Miami, FL |
| Nov 9, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Johnson & Wales | W 117–47 | 2–0 | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (719) Miami, FL |
| Nov 13, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Milwaukee | W 86–83 | 3–0 | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (773) Miami, FL |
| Nov 16, 2018* 6:00 pm | | at Fordham John Bach Classic | L 77–83 | 3–1 | Rose Hill Gymnasium (500) Bronx, NY |
| Nov 17, 2018* 3:30 pm | | vs. Columbia John Bach Classic | W 98–87 | 4–1 | Rose Hill Gymnasium (1,834) Bronx, NY |
| Nov 18, 2018* 12:00 pm | | vs. Youngstown State John Bach Classic | W 102–93 | 5–1 | Rose Hill Gymnasium (123) Bronx, NY |
| Nov 23, 2018* 5:00 pm | | Ave Maria John Bach Classic | W 104–84 | 6–1 | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (545) Miami, FL |
| Nov 28, 2018* 7:30 pm | | at Florida Gulf Coast | W 81–80 | 7–1 | Alico Arena (2,328) Fort Myers, FL |
| Dec 1, 2018* 8:00 pm, SECN+ | | at Arkansas | L 89–121 | 7–2 | Bud Walton Arena (13,763) Fayetteville, AR |
| Dec 13, 2018* 7:00 pm | | North Florida | W 102–89 | 8–2 | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (622) Miami, FL |
| Dec 18, 2018* 7:00 pm | | South Florida | L 73–82 | 8–3 | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (706) Miami, FL |
| Dec 20, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Florida Memorial | W 108–67 | 9–3 | Ocean Bank Convocation Center Miami, FL |
| Dec 30, 2018* 2:00 pm | | at Ohio | L 66–68 | 9–4 | Convocation Center (3,451) Athens, OH |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| Jan 3, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Middle Tennessee | W 83–76 | 10–4 (1–0) | Murphy Center (3,307) Murfreesboro, TN |
| Jan 5, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UAB | L 65–84 | 10–5 (1–1) | Bartow Arena (2,878) Birmingham, AL |
| Jan 10, 2019 7:00 pm | | Charlotte | W 69–66 | 11–5 (2–1) | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (724) Miami, FL |
| Jan 12, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Old Dominion | L 74–75 | 11–6 (2–2) | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (829) Miami, FL |
| Jan 17, 2019 8:00 pm, beIN | | at Western Kentucky | W 77–76 | 12–6 (3–2) | E. A. Diddle Arena (5,102) Bowling Green, KY |
| Jan 19, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Marshall | L 97–105 | 12–7 (3–3) | Cam Henderson Center (7,330) Huntington, WV |
| Jan 23, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Florida Atlantic | W 78–74 | 13–7 (4–3) | FAU Arena Boca Raton, FL |
| Jan 26, 2019 7:00 pm | | Florida Atlantic | L 72–89 | 13–8 (4–4) | Ocean Bank Convocation Center Miami, FL |
| Jan 31, 2019 7:00 pm | | Southern Miss | L 73–89 | 13–9 (4–5) | Ocean Bank Convocation Center Miami, FL |
| Feb 2, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Louisiana Tech | W 75–69 | 14–9 (5–5) | Ocean Bank Convocation Center Miami, FL |
| Feb 7, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UTSA | L 67–100 | 14–10 (5–6) | Convocation Center San Antonio, TX |
| Feb 9, 2019 9:00 pm | | at UTEP | L 75–85 | 14–11 (5–7) | Don Haskins Center El Paso, TX |
| Feb 14, 2019 7:00 pm | | Rice | W 86–65 | 15–11 (6–7) | Ocean Bank Convocation Center Miami, FL |
| Feb 16, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | North Texas | W 69–59 | 16–11 (7–7) | Ocean Bank Convocation Center Miami, FL |
| Feb 23, 2019 4:00 pm | | at Florida Atlantic | W 79–76 | 17–11 (8–7) | FAU Arena (1,147) Boca Raton, FL |
| Mar 3, 2019 12:00 pm | | Louisiana Tech | W 83–76 | 18–11 (9–7) | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (519) Miami, FL |
| Mar 6, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Marshall | L 78–94 | 18–12 (9–8) | Cam Henderson Center (5,822) Huntington, WV |
| Mar 9, 2019 7:00 pm | | North Texas | W 73–58 | 19–12 (10–8) | Ocean Bank Convocation Center (652) Miami, FL |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| Mar 13, 2019 ESPN+ | (7) | vs. (10) North Texas First round | L 57–71 | 19–13 | Ford Center at The Star (2,704) Frisco, TX |
| CollegeInsider.com Postseason tournament ||||||
| Mar 23, 2019* 7:00 pm | | at Texas State First round | W 87–81 | 20–13 | Strahan Coliseum (1,237) San Marcos, TX |
| Mar 26, 2019* 8:00 pm | | at Green Bay Second round | L 68–98 | 20–14 | Kress Events Center (1,341) Green Bay, WI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. Source ||||||