2024–25 FIU Panthers men's basketball team

2024–25 FIU Panthers men's basketball
2024–25 FIU Panthers men's basketball
Conference	Conference USA
Record	10–23 (3–15 C-USA)
Head coach	Jeremy Ballard (7th season);
Associate head coach	Jesse Bopp
Assistant coaches	Joey Rodriguez; Zavier Anderson;
Home arena	Ocean Bank Convocation Center
	Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 Conference USA men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Liberty †	13	–	5	.722	28	–	7	.800
Jacksonville State	12	–	6	.667	23	–	13	.639
Middle Tennessee	12	–	6	.667	22	–	12	.647
Kennesaw State	10	–	8	.556	19	–	14	.576
New Mexico State	10	–	8	.556	17	–	15	.531
Louisiana Tech	9	–	9	.500	20	–	12	.625
Western Kentucky	8	–	10	.444	17	–	15	.531
UTEP	7	–	11	.389	18	–	15	.545
Sam Houston	6	–	12	.333	13	–	19	.406
FIU	3	–	15	.167	10	–	23	.303

† 2025 CUSA tournament winner

The 2024–25 FIU Panthers men's basketball team represented Florida International University in the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by seventh-year head coach Jeremy Ballard, played their home games at Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami, Florida as members of Conference USA (C-USA).

Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2023–24 season 11–22, 5–11 in C-USA play, to finish in last place. As a No. 9 seed, they defeat Jacksonville State in the first round of the C-USA tournament^[1] before losing to Sam Houston.^[2]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Arturo Dean	2	G	5' 11"	163	Sophomore	Miami, FL	Transferred to Oklahoma State^[3]
Javaunte Hawkins	3	G	5' 11"	160	Senior	Lee's Summit, MO	Graduated
Seth Pinkney	4	C	7'1"	200	Senior	Warminster, PA	Graduated
Petar Krivokapic	23	G	6' 4"	214	Junior	Budva, Montenegro	Transferred to Pacific
Mohamed Sanogo	33	F	6' 9"	200	Junior	Pittsfield, MA	Signed to play professionally in Spain with Córdoba CB^[4]

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Asim Jones	2	G	6' 2"	Junior	Paterson, NJ	College of Southern Idaho^[5]
Vianney Salatchoum	23	C	6' 10"	Junior	Yaoundé, Cameroon	Panola College
Olajuwon Ibrahim	34	C	6' 9"	Junior	Lagos, Nigeria	Southeastern CC^[6]

2024 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Ashton Williamson #34 PG	Gary, IN	Calumet High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	May 23, 2024
Ashton Williamson #34 PG	Recruit ratings: 247Sports: ESPN: (79)
Kole Williams SF	Dallas, TX	Carter High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	May 24, 2024
Kole Williams SF	Recruit ratings: 247Sports:
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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: "2024 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved October 21, 2024.

Roster

2024–25 FIU Panthers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Chris Okeke	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Sr	Lipscomb Tallahassee CC	East Chicago, IN
G	1	Dashon Gittens	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Putnam Science Academy	Hartford, CT
G	2	Asim Jones	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Paterson Charter College of Southern Idaho	Paterson, NJ
G	3	Ashton Williamson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Fr	21st Century Charter	Gary, IN
G	5	Jaidon Lipscomb	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sr	Dohn Community High School Lakeland CC	Columbus, OH
G	10	Travis Gray	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	Henninger HS Mohawk Valley CC	Syracuse, NY
G	11	Jayden Brewer	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Jr	Combine Academy	Indianapolis, IN
F	12	Dante Wilcox	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	RS Sr	Oxbridge Academy	West Palm Beach, FL
G	15	Renato Ruiz (W)	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sr	American Heritage HS	Plantation, FL
F	21	Jonathan Aybar	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Central Pointe Christian Academy North Florida	Kissimmee, FL
G	22	Onyx Pastoriza (W)	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	GS	Miami Triple Threat Prep	Arecibo, Puerto Rico
C	23	Vianney Salatchoum	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Jr	Panola College	Yaoundé, Cameroon
G	24	Jaden Grant (W)	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sr	NSU University School	Davie, FL
G	25	Kole Williams	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Fr	Carter HS	Dallas, TX
G	31	George Jr. Pridgett	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Sr	Roswell HS Polk State College	Boston, MA
F	34	Olajuwon Ibrahim	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Southeastern Community College	Lagos, Nigeria

Head coach

Jeremy Ballard (Colgate)

Assistant coach(es)

Jesse Bopp (Plymouth State)
Joey Rodriguez (VCU)
Zavier Anderson (Clemson)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 5, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Rice	L 70–77	0–1	18 – 2 tied	9 – Brewer	4 – Brewer	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,111) Houston, TX
November 9, 2024* 8:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Southern Utah C-USA/WAC Alliance	L 75–80	0–2	22 – Brewer	7 – Brewer	5 – Williamson	America First Event Center (2,856) Cedar City, UT
November 14, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Florida National	W 110–55	1–2	18 – Okeke	10 – Okeke	6 – Brewer	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (947) Miami, FL
November 18, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Howard	L 70–75	1–3	15 – Brewer	6 – Williamson	8 – Williamson	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (764) Miami, FL
November 22, 2024* 1:00 p.m.		vs. Northeastern Homewood Suites Classic	L 58–60	1–4	14 – Salatchoum	7 – Aybar	3 – Jones	Alico Arena (57) Fort Myers, FL
November 23, 2024* 11:00 a.m.		vs. Cal State Bakersfield Homewood Suites Classic	W 76–73 ^OT	2–4	16 – Gittens	5 – Wilcox	3 – 2 tied	Alico Arena (742) Fort Myers, FL
November 24, 2024* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Florida Gulf Coast Homewood Suites Classic	L 59–60	2–5	18 – Brewer	8 – 2 tied	2 – 2 tied	Alico Arena (1,601) Fort Myers, FL
December 4, 2024* 6:30 p.m., CBSSN		Florida Atlantic	L 77–88	2–6	20 – Salatchoum	13 – Brewer	4 – Brewer	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (1,304) Miami, FL
December 6, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		New College of Florida	W 70–63	3–6	19 – Salatchoum	7 – 2 tied	4 – Brewer	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (567) Miami, FL
December 14, 2024* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Stetson	W 81–72	4–6	20 – Brewer	11 – Aybar	4 – 2 tied	Edmunds Center (508) DeLand, FL
December 17, 2024* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at East Carolina	L 64–75	4–7	20 – Brewer	7 – Aybar	4 – 2 tied	Williams Arena (3,359) Greenville, NC
December 21, 2024* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		IU Indy	W 75–69	5–7	15 – 2 tied	5 – 2 tied	4 – 2 tied	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (595) Miami, FL
December 30, 2024* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		Utah Tech C-USA/WAC Alliance	W 80–66	6–7	15 – Gray	5 – 2 tied	7 – Jones	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (613) Miami, FL
Conference USA regular season
January 2, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Middle Tennessee	L 69–73	6–8 (0–1)	21 – Salatchoum	6 – Aybar	5 – Jones	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (560) Miami, FL
January 4, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Western Kentucky	W 85–66	7–8 (1–1)	17 – Jones	7 – 2 tied	4 – Williamson	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (580) Miami, FL
January 9, 2025 7:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Louisiana Tech	L 64–81	7–9 (1–2)	15 – 2 tied	4 – Gray	5 – Williamson	Thomas Assembly Center (1,635) Ruston, LA
January 11, 2025 3:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Sam Houston	L 74–81	7–10 (1–3)	20 – Brewer	11 – Aybar	4 – Aybar	Bernard Johnson Coliseum (976) Huntsville, TX
January 16, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		New Mexico State	L 52–59	7–11 (1–4)	13 – 2 tied	11 – Salatchoum	2 – 2 tied	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (1,535) Miami, FL
January 18, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		UTEP	L 73–81	7–12 (1–5)	17 – Aybar	6 – 2 tied	5 – Williamson	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (649) Miami, FL
January 25, 2025 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Liberty	L 59–82	7–13 (1–6)	17 – Brewer	8 – 2 tied	2 – Gittens	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (1,176) Miami, FL
January 30, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Jacksonville State	L 67–71	7–14 (1–7)	15 – Brewer	8 – Salatchoum	4 – Jones	Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,877) Jacksonville, AL
February 1, 2025 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Kennesaw State	L 67–73	7–15 (1–8)	22 – Brewer	7 – Brewer	5 – Williamson	Convocation Center (2,155) Kennesaw, GA
February 6, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Sam Houston	W 85–82 ^OT	8–15 (2–8)	25 – Brewer	9 – Aybar	3 – 3 tied	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (1,002) Miami, FL
February 8, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Louisiana Tech	L 71–82	8–16 (2–9)	15 – Brewer	7 – Gittens	3 – 2 tied	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (745) Miami, FL
February 13, 2025 9:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UTEP	L 63–77	8–17 (2–10)	12 – 2 tied	10 – Aybar	4 – Williamson	Don Haskins Center (4,089) El Paso, TX
February 15, 2025 9:00 p.m., ESPN+		at New Mexico State	L 48–76	8–18 (2–11)	13 – Brewer	6 – 3 tied	2 – Aybar	Pan American Center (13,274) Las Cruces, NM
February 22, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Liberty	L 45–58	8–19 (2–12)	10 – 2 tied	10 – Brewer	2 – 2 tied	Liberty Arena (4,000) Lynchburg, VA
February 27, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Kennesaw State	W 76–61	9–19 (3–12)	15 – 2 tied	6 – Salatchoum	3 – Wilcox	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (668) Miami, FL
March 1, 2025 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Jacksonville State	L 79–84 ^2OT	9–20 (3–13)	19 – Aybar	8 – Gittens	4 – Williamson	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (612) Miami, FL
March 6, 2025 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Western Kentucky	L 67–76	9–21 (3–14)	21 – Salatchoum	7 – Brewer	4 – 2 tied	E. A. Diddle Arena (3,645) Bowling Green, KY
March 8, 2025 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Middle Tennessee	L 56–78	9–22 (3–15)	15 – Brewer	7 – Brewer	2 – Williamson	Murphy Center (4,018) Murfreesboro, TN
Conference USA tournament
March 11, 2025 9:00 p.m., ESPN+	(10)	vs. (7) Western Kentucky First round	W 64–61	10–22	17 – 2 tied	10 – Salatchoum	4 – Williamson	Von Braun Center (1,244) Huntsville, AL
March 12, 2025 9:00 p.m., ESPN+	(10)	vs. (2) Jacksonville State Quarterfinals	L 56–65	10–23	18 – Brewer	6 – Aybar	4 – Williamson	Von Braun Center (2,562) Huntsville, AL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Source:^[7]

References

^ "Men's Basketball Downs Jax State to Advance in CUSA Tournament". FIU Athletics. March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
^ "Men's Basketball Closes Season with Defeat in Quarterfinals to Sam Houston at CUSA Championships". FIU Athletics. March 13, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
^ Wright, Scott (April 24, 2024). "Oklahoma State men's basketball adds Florida International guard Arturo Dean from portal". The Oklahoman. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
^ Herman, Howard (August 26, 2024). "Former Taconic basketball standout Mohamed Sanogo signs to play professionally in Spain". The Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
^ Engel, Adam (April 18, 2024). "CSI's Asim Jones signs with Florida International". Times-News. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
^ Sesker, Craig (June 12, 2024). "SCC's Ibrahim commits to Florida International". The Hawk Eye. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
^ "2024-25 Men's Basketball Schedule". FIU Athletics. Retrieved October 21, 2024.

[1] "Men's Basketball Downs Jax State to Advance in CUSA Tournament". FIU Athletics. March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2025.

[2] "Men's Basketball Closes Season with Defeat in Quarterfinals to Sam Houston at CUSA Championships". FIU Athletics. March 13, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2025.

[3] Wright, Scott (April 24, 2024). "Oklahoma State men's basketball adds Florida International guard Arturo Dean from portal". The Oklahoman. Retrieved October 21, 2024.

[4] Herman, Howard (August 26, 2024). "Former Taconic basketball standout Mohamed Sanogo signs to play professionally in Spain". The Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved October 21, 2024.

[5] Engel, Adam (April 18, 2024). "CSI's Asim Jones signs with Florida International". Times-News. Retrieved October 21, 2024.

[6] Sesker, Craig (June 12, 2024). "SCC's Ibrahim commits to Florida International". The Hawk Eye. Retrieved October 21, 2024.

[7] "2024-25 Men's Basketball Schedule". FIU Athletics. Retrieved October 21, 2024.

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v t e FIU Panthers men's basketball
Venues	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (1986–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25