MIAMI– FIU men's basketball is set to kick off the 2026-27 college basketball season at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, taking on New College of Florida (1-1) in a matchup at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live on the radio via La Poderosa 990 AM.
The Inbound
The inaugural game in the FIU coaching career of Joey Cantens will be against New College of Florida on college basketball's opening night on Nov. 2. The Panthers return 0 points from last year's roster, bringing in 14 newcomers and one returner - Gvidas Gicevicius, who did not appear, but is also set to be sidelined this season with an injury. The Panthers will be giving away 305 Rally Towels and team posters to all fans.
Cantens has five former Daytona State players joining him, three who came over (CJ Hall, Noah Mendy & Seydina N'Diaye) and two former athletes that spent last season at the DI level - Huascar Cuevas and Jaylin Payne.
FIU played a public exhibition on Oct. 22 against top mid-major Murray State, dropping it 86-79.
Series History
- The Panthers and Mighty Banyans have only met once in program history, a 70-63 win for the Panthers in Miami on Dec. 6, 2024.
Notable Storylines
- The aforementioned Cantens was named the 10th head coach in FIU history in March. Cantens was a walk-on guard for FIU during the 2005-06 season, and spent the past five seasons as the head coach of Daytona State College, leading the Falcons to a 121-41 record.
- Three of the Panthers' transfers earned some notoriety at the junior college level ahead of the 2026-27 season - Mason Blazer (no. 4) and Mendy (no. 6) were ranked on jucorecruiting.com's top prospects list, and N'Diaye earned Fab-50 freshman honors.
- One of the later additions to the squad may be perhaps one of the most impactful. Tijan Saine Jr. signed with FIU after averaging 17.5 PPG and being named First Team All-Big Sky at Weber State last season. He was named Preseason All-Conference USA, the first Panther to be on the preseason team since 2023-24.
- Another impactful addition, Trey Beamer, is the second-highest rated recruit in FIU history behind Dominique Ferguson (2011-12) as a four-star prospect and was top-100 overall. Chris Dortch's Blue Ribbon Yearbook forecasted Beamer as the 2026-27 CUSA Co-Newcomer of the Year with Liberty's Eli Sancomb, and Beamer scored 20+ in all of FIU's preseason exhibitions, including 21 against Murray State.
- Transferring over from Kennesaw State, who was in the NCAA Tournament last season, FIU forward and Tampa native Ramone Seals joins the frontcourt. He is the son of the late former NFL lineman Ray Seals, and makes it two-straight years with FIU having a CUSA-to-CUSA transfer, with last year's being Zawdie Jackson (NM State). Seals is likely to miss the season opener due to injury.
- East Carolina transfer Corey Caulker, who finished last season third in the American Conference in assist to turnover ratio and 97th in the NCAA (2.4), saved some of his best performances for the Pirates for down the stretch. Over his final seven games of the season, he averaged 12.6 points and 4.0 assists, including his first Division I double-double with 16 points and 11 assists against Memphis (Mar. 1). He scored nine points and dished four assists against Murray State after drawing the start.
- N'Diaye had a strong exhibition slate for the Panthers, including scoring 12 points and grabbing seven boards in his start against the Racers.
- Andreas Holst, who transferred from Oklahoma after redshirting, is listed at 7 feet tall. He is the tallest Panther on the roster since 7'1 Seth Pinkney played in 2023-24, and is one of seven Panthers listed at 7'0 or taller over the last 20 years.
- Over the summer, freshman Justin Roman competed in the Central American & Caribbean Games for Puerto Rico. He was a large part in the country's bid for the gold medal, taking down Dominican Republic 94-75 in the gold medal game. He drew the start in the game against Murray State.
- FIU is looking to make it consecutive season-opening wins for the first time since the 2017-18 & 2018-19 seasons.
- FIU has six countries represented on the roster, one of the top numbers in college basketball (Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Lithuania, Senegal, USA/PR). The team also had six last season - Argentina, Cameroon, Canada, Lithuania, Nigeria and USA.
Season Tickets
For more information on FIU men's basketball tickets, call 305-FIU-GAME or visit the FIU Athletics Online Ticket Office. Single-game tickets are available at FIUSports.com/26MBBTix.
Social Media
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Instagram (@FIUHoops), X (@FIUHoops), and Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUMensBball) for all the latest Men's Basketball news.
Support FIU Men's Basketball
Financial support has never been more imperative in intercollegiate athletics than it is now. Please enhance our men's basketball student-athlete experience by giving them, and Coach Cantens, the resources needed to succeed by becoming a Panther Club member today.
