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.

2016–17 FIU Panthers men's basketball
Conference	Conference USA
Record	7–24 (3–15 C-USA)
Head coach	Anthony Evans (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Mike Gillian Spencer Wright Erik Pastrana
Home arena	FIU Arena
Seasons ← 2015–16 2017–18 →

2016–17 Conference USA men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Middle Tennessee †	17	–	1		.944			31	–	5		.861
Louisiana Tech	14	–	4		.778			23	–	10		.697
Old Dominion	12	–	6		.667			19	–	12		.613
UTEP	12	–	6		.667			15	–	17		.469
Rice	11	–	7		.611			23	–	12		.657
Marshall	10	–	8		.556			20	–	15		.571
UAB	9	–	9		.500			17	–	16		.515
Western Kentucky	9	–	9		.500			15	–	17		.469
UTSA	8	–	10		.444			14	–	19		.424
Charlotte	7	–	11		.389			13	–	17		.433
Florida Atlantic	6	–	12		.333			10	–	20		.333
Southern Miss	6	–	12		.333			9	–	22		.290
FIU	3	–	15		.167			7	–	24		.226
North Texas	2	–	16		.111			8	–	22		.267
† 2017 C-USA Tournament winner

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

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	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
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (70)
Greg Shead PG	Humble, TX	Atascocita High School	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	N/A	Oct 1, 2015
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    (NR)
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: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals. Retrieved August 17, 2014.

Preseason

The Panthers were picked to finish in 11th place in the preseason Conference USA poll.^[1]

Roster

2016–17 FIU Panthers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 0 Michael Kessens 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 228 lb (103 kg) RS Sr Lycee Europe Robert Schumann Alabama/Longwood Nyon, Switzerland F 1 Elmo Stephen 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Auburndale Tallahassee CC Auburndale, FL G 2 Donte McGill 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Mont Clare Academy Vincennes Newark, DE G 4 Kimar Williams 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Constitution Philadelphia, PA F 5 Eric Lockett 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 193 lb (88 kg) RS So Whitefield Academy George Mason/Chipola College Atlanta, GA F 10 Hassan Hussein 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS So Mt. Zion Prep Lorton, VA G 11 Anthony Boswell 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Patrick School Bronx, NY G 12 Eric Nottage 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Miami Northwestern Tallahassee CC Miami, FL F 20 Richard Bivens 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Ridgeview East Los Angeles CC Bakersfield, CA G 23 Ronald Whitaker 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Jr Riverdale Baptist Gulf Coast CC/SW Tennessee CC Washington, D.C. F 24 Cameron Smith 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Leon Tallahassee CC Tallahassee, FL F 31 Michael Douglas 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Sachse Sachse, TX F 32 Jay Harvey 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 246 lb (112 kg) Jr TF North Shawnee CC Chicago, IL F 34 Osasumwen Osaghae (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Fr Robert Morgan Miami, FL	Head coach Anthony Evans (St. Thomas Aquinas) Assistant coach(es) Mike Gillian (Adams State) Chris Capko (South Florida) Erik Pastrana (Florida State) 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	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[2][3]