# 2016–17 FIU Panthers men's basketball team

The 2016–17 FIU Panthers men's basketball team represented Florida International University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by fourth-year head coach Anthony Evans, played their home games at FIU Arena in Miami, Florida and were members of Conference USA. They finished the season 7–24, 3–15 in C-USA play to finish in 13th place. They failed to qualify for the C-USA tournament.

## Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2015–16 season 13–19, 7–11 in C-USA play to finish in a three-way tie for ninth place. They lost in the second round of the C-USA tournament to UTEP.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Tashawn Desir | 3 | G | 5'10" | 178 | Senior | Brooklyn, NY | Graduated |
| Ray Rodruquez | 11 | G | 6'1" | 180 | RS Junior | Miami, FL | Transferred |
| Adrian Diaz | 20 | F | 6'10" | 230 | RS Senior | Miami, FL | Graduated |
| Daviyon Draper | 32 | F | 6'7" | 217 | Senior | Los Angeles, CA | Graduated |
| Nate Brown Bull | 34 | C | 7'1" | 215 | Freshman | Kyle, SD | Transferred to Williston State College |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Michael Kessens | 0 | F | 6'9" | 228 | RS Senior | Nyon, Switzerland | Transferred from Alabama. Will eligible to play immediately since Kessens graduated from Alabama. |
| Eric Lockett | 5 | G | 6'5" | 189 | RS Sophomore | Warner Robins, GA | Junior college transferred from Chipola College. |
| Richard Bivens | 20 | G | 6'5" | 200 | Junior | Bakersfield, CA | Junior college transferred from East Los Angeles College |
| Ronald Whitaker | 23 | F | 6'7" | 210 | Junior | Washington, D.C. | Junior college transferred SW Tennessee CC |

### Recruiting class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Raekwon Long #50 C | Charlotte, NC | Lincolnton High School | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | 250 lb (110 kg) | Sep 20, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 70 ||||||
| Greg Shead PG | Humble, TX | Atascocita High School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | N/A | Oct 1, 2015 |
| 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: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 17, 2014. ||||||

## Preseason

The Panthers were picked to finish in 11th place in the preseason Conference USA poll.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 7:00 pm | Florida Memorial | W 76–57 | 1–0 | FIU Arena (908) Miami, FL |
| 11/14/2016* 7:00 pm | at Stetson | L 67–82 | 1–1 | Edmunds Center (682) DeLand, FL |
| 11/18/2016* 8:05 pm | at South Alabama Red Diamond Roundball Classic | L 64–69 | 1–2 | Mitchell Center (2,225) Mobile, AL |
| 11/19/2016* 1:30 pm | vs. Jacksonville Red Diamond Roundball Classic | L 75–78 $^{OT}$ | 1–3 | Mitchell Center (1,948) Mobile, AL |
| 11/20/2016* 1:30 pm | vs. Youngstown State Red Diamond Roundball Classic | L 73–78 | 1–4 | Mitchell Center (1,823) Mobile, AL |
| 11/23/2016* 7:00 pm | Ave Maria | W 89–72 | 2–4 | FIU Arena (717) Miami, FL |
| 11/27/2016* 7:00 pm | Binghamton | W 74–57 | 3–4 | FIU Arena (710) Miami, FL |
| 11/30/2016* 7:00 pm | at Elon | L 81–84 | 3–5 | Alumni Gym (1,388) Elon, NC |
| 12/04/2016* 2:00 pm | at No. 20 South Carolina | L 54–70 | 3–6 | Colonial Life Arena (10,587) Columbia, SC |
| 12/11/2016* 8:15 pm | at Florida Gulf Coast | L 63–82 | 3–7 | Alico Arena (3,112) Fort Myers, FL |
| 12/15/2016* 7:00 pm | Georgia Southern | L 68–75 | 3–8 | FIU Arena (639) Miami, FL |
| 12/17/2016* 7:00 pm | Northern Illinois | L 53–60 | 3–9 | FIU Arena (810) Miami, FL |
| 12/21/2016* 7:00 pm | North Florida | W 78–54 | 4–9 | FIU Arena (635) Miami, FL |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| 12/31/2016 1:00 pm | Marshall | L 70–94 | 4–10 (0–1) | FIU Arena (598) Miami, FL |
| 01/02/2017 7:00 pm | WKU | L 66–69 | 4–11 (0–2) | FIU Arena (644) Miami, FL |
| 01/07/2017 2:00 pm, ASN | at Florida Atlantic | L 64–73 | 4–12 (0–3) | FAU Arena (1,054) Boca Raton, FL |
| 01/12/2017 9:00 pm | at UTEP | L 87–88 $^{OT}$ | 4–13 (0–4) | Don Haskins Center (5,696) El Paso, TX |
| 01/14/2017 4:00 pm | at UTSA | L 55–57 | 4–14 (0–5) | Convocation Center (1,138) San Antonio, TX |
| 01/19/2017 7:00 pm | Middle Tennessee | L 52–65 | 4–15 (0–6) | FIU Arena (1,401) Miami, FL |
| 01/21/2017 7:00 pm | UAB | W 94–85 | 5–15 (1–6) | FIU Arena (1,263) Miami, FL |
| 01/26/2017 7:00 pm | Florida Atlantic | L 65–83 | 5–16 (1–7) | FIU Arena (1,602) Miami, FL |
| 02/02/2017 7:00 pm | at Old Dominion | L 57–64 | 5–17 (1–8) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (5,757) Norfolk, VA |
| 02/04/2017 7:00 pm | at Charlotte | L 80–95 | 5–18 (1–9) | Dale F. Halton Arena (5,316) Charlotte, NC |
| 02/09/2017 7:00 pm | Rice | L 78–89 | 5–19 (1–10) | FIU Arena (802) Miami, FL |
| 02/11/2017 7:00 pm | North Texas | W 90–71 | 6–19 (2–10) | FIU Arena (877) Miami, FL |
| 02/16/2017 8:00 pm | at Southern Miss | L 66–69 $^{OT}$ | 6–20 (2–11) | Reed Green Coliseum (3,494) Hattiesburg, MS |
| 02/18/2017 7:00 pm | at Louisiana Tech | L 61–77 | 6–21 (2–12) | Thomas Assembly Center (3,418) Ruston, LA |
| 02/23/2017 7:00 pm | UTSA | L 67–69 | 6–22 (2–13) | FIU Arena (632) Miami, FL |
| 02/25/2017 7:00 pm | UTEP | L 76–90 | 6–23 (2–14) | FIU Arena (902) Miami, FL |
| 03/02/2017 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | at Middle Tennessee | L 67–70 | 6–24 (2–14) | Murphy Center (5,510) Murfreesboro, TN |
| 03/04/2017 8:00 pm | at UAB | W 68–56 | 7–24 (3–15) | Bartow Arena (3,881) Birmingham, AL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. Source ||||||