MIAMI (June 15, 2016) – Turtle Thomas stepped down as head coach of the FIU baseball program on Wednesday. FIU Executive Director of Sports and Entertainment Pete Garcia released the following statement.  
 
Pete Garcia Statement
For the past nine years, Turtle Thomas has been a valuable member of the FIU family. During his time here, he has had a remarkable career, accumulating 282 wins, while leading FIU Baseball to two conference titles and three NCAA Regional appearances.
 
Earlier today Coach Thomas informed me of his decision to step down to pursue other opportunities. We are sorry to see him go.
 
FIU has had 15 All-America selections and five freshman All-America nods under Coach Thomas. The Panthers have totaled 23 all-conference selections, three conference Player of the Year awards and two conference Freshman of the Year honorees. Twenty FIU student-athletes were selected in the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft over the past nine seasons.
 
In the classroom, Coach Thomas' student-athletes have been named to the conference's academic honor rolls over 100 times.
 
We thank Coach Thomas for his hard work on behalf of our student-athletes and our institution.
 
A national search for the Panthers' next head baseball coach will begin immediately.
 
 
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offer more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $8.9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.