MIAMI– Conference USA announced its postseason awards on Monday, and FIU men's basketball forwards
Corey Stephenson and
Eric Dibami both picked up honors in their first seasons in the 305.
Stephenson, who had one of the best seasons in FIU men's basketball history, was named to the All-Conference Second Team after averaging a team-high 17.8 points per game. The senior scored in double digits in all but one game of the regular season, recording nine 20+-point games and one 30-point effort to lead the Panthers. He became just the 11th player in program history to score over 500 points in a season and the first since Denver Jones in 2023.
In his 30 games played, Stephenson also added four double-doubles, third on the team. His season was exemplified by a career effort in the 88-84 overtime win at Middle Tennessee, scoring 34 points and grabbing nine rebounds, the second-most points in a road game in program history, only behind Carlos Arroyo's record-setting 39 at North Texas on 12/30/00.
In the league rankings, Stephenson finished third in points, fourth in steals, field goals and points per game, and fifth in steals per game while also ending seventh in offensive rebounds. He led the team in steals and threes made in addition being third in rebounds. On the year, he led the team in scoring 13 times.
Dibami wrapped up one of the best freshman seasons in FIU history and was rewarded for it, becoming the first Panther to earn both All-Freshman and All-Defense honors in a season. He finished the regular season averaging 9.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals, with both of those numbers being top-15 in the league.
During the year, Dibami led the team with seven double-doubles, highest among CUSA rookies and fourth overall in the league. His seven place him third place in a single-season by a freshman at FIU, one behind Ruben Colon, who had eight in 1989-90. In FIU single-season ranks by a freshman, Dibami currently sits fourth in rebounds and rebounds per game, second in FG%, and fourth in both steals and blocks.
Dibami led the team 15 times in rebounding in a game, having 10+ rebounds nine times. He had multiple blocks in ten games, including back-to-back games with four blocks to end the year, adding 11 games with two or more steals.
Stephenson, Dibami and the Panthers battle ninth-seeded Missouri State at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Huntsville for the opening round of the conference tournament.
