FIU Athletics

David Cason, Jeremy Ballard's first head coaching hire, was named associate head coach at FIU on April 27, 2018. The 2020-21 season marks Cason's third season with the Panthers.
 
In his first year at FIU, Cason helped guide the Panthers to a 20-14 record and a 10-8 mark in Conference USA (C-USA) play. The team’s 20 wins marked just the third time in school history that FIU logged 20-or-more victories and were tied for the second most in a single season, while the 10 C-USA wins was the most since joining the conference. In addition, the Panthers earned a berth to just their second postseason tournament in program history taking part in the Collegeinsider.com Tournament (CIT) and advancing to the second round. During the first round of the CIT, the Blue and Gold won their first-ever postseason tournament game with an 87-81 victory at Texas State.
 
As a team, the Panthers set several single-season school records, including points (2,798), rebounds (1,218), assists (491) and steals (359), led the nation in steals-per-game (10.6), turnover margin (5.6) and turnovers forced (19.6), and was second in total steals.
 
With Cason ’s tutelage, several student-athletes had breakout seasons, Both Brian Beard, Jr. and Osasumwen Osaghae were named to the C-USA All-Defensive Team while Beard, Jr. earned Second Team All-C-USA honors.
 
The winning ways continued with Cason on the sidelines during the 2019-20 season when the Panthers went 19-13 before the remainder of the season was cancelled to the COVID-19 outbreak.
 
During his second season at FIU, the squad finished with a 9-9 league record, earning the fifth seed for the program’s highest ever seeding for the C-USA Tournament. During the conference tournament, the Panthers took down Rice 85-76 for the programs second ever win during the conference tournament.
 
FIU led the nation in blocked shots (210) and swats per contest (6.6) during the 2019-20 campaign. The team also ranked 11th in three-point defense (28.8) and total steals (280). The Panthers 8.8 steals per game ranked 13th nationally.
 
Cason coached a pair of FIU players earned Conference USA Second Team Honors with Osaghae and Devon Andrews taking home the honors. Along with the award, Osaghae was named to the all-defensive team and earned FIU’s first ever Conference USA superlative after being named the Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Cason came to FIU after spending the 2017-18 season in the same role at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he helped the Eagles to a 23-12 record and a berth in the National Invitational Tournament.
 
A veteran of more than 20 years on the sidelines at the highest level of collegiate basketball, Cason spent two seasons (2015-17) at Texas as an assistant under Head Coach Shaka Smart. A talented coach and recruiter, Cason has also spent time with VCU, Vanderbilt, North Carolina and Notre Dame, among others, while being part of more than 400 wins.
 
In his two years at Texas, Cason was part of more than 30 victories and an NCAA Tournament appearance. He followed Smart to Austin after spending the 2014-15 season as an assistant coach with him – and Ballard – at VCU, helping lead the Rams to a 26-10 overall record and No. 25 ranking in the final Associated Press Poll.
 
While with VCU, the Rams captured the 2015 Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Second Round.
 
Over his tenure, Cason has been part of 12 different 20-win seasons, four NCAA Tournament trips, seven NIT appearances and one College Basketball Invitational Championship crown. Cason has a reputation as a stellar recruiter, and was identified in 2010 while at Tulsa as the top assistant coach in Conference USA in a FoxSports.com survey of the league’s head coaches.
 
A native of Baltimore, Cason worked for three years (2011-14) as an assistant at Vanderbilt under Kevin Stallings and helped the Commodores post a 56-43 (.566) record. Vanderbilt registered a 25-11 mark in 2011-12, won the SEC Tournament Championship for the first time in 60 years and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Third Round.
 
He helped develop a pair of 2012 SEC First Team selections in Jeffery Taylor and John Jenkins. Taylor, who finished his career as the school’s second all-time leading scorer (1,897), was selected as the No. 31 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by Charlotte. As a junior in 2011-12, Jenkins led the SEC in scoring (19.9 ppg) and topped the nation in 3-pointers made per game (3.9) while earning Third Team All-America honors by The AP. He was selected as the No. 23 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by Atlanta.
 
Cason moved on to Vanderbilt after spending six seasons at Tulsa from 2005-11, including the last three in the role of associate head coach. The Golden Hurricane posted a 123-78 (.612) overall record in his six years, including four-straight 20-win seasons (2006-10), made two NIT appearances (2009 and 2010) and won the 2008 CBI Championship. During his time at Tulsa is when he and Ballard first crossed paths, coaching together from 2007-11.
 
He helped recruit and coached Jordan Clarkson for one season (2010-11) at Tulsa, where Clarkson earned Conference USA All-Freshman Team honors. Clarkson was selected as the No. 46 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft by Washington before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers later that night.
 
Prior to his time at Tulsa, Cason served as an assistant coach for two seasons (2003-05) at TCU. The Horned Frogs registered a 21-14 mark and advanced to the NIT quarterfinals in 2004-05.
 
He spent three years (2000-03) as the director of basketball operations at North Carolina under head coach Matt Doherty. In his first season, the Tar Heels won 26 games and earned a No. 1 national ranking late in the regular season. UNC won a share of the ACC Regular Season Championship with a 13-3 league record, advanced to the ACC Tournament Final and claimed a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Cason also served as director of basketball operations at Notre Dame for one season (1999-2000) under Doherty. The Irish posted a 22-15 record and advanced to the NIT Championship Final. He also worked for three seasons (1996-99) as an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois University.
 
Collegiately, Cason played his first two years (1991-93) of basketball at the College of Southern Idaho. He led the Scenic West Conference in assists during each of his two seasons and earned Second Team All-Region honors as a sophomore. He played his final two seasons at Illinois State, when Stallings was the head coach for the Redbirds.
 
Cason led the Missouri Valley Conference in assists in both years and remains the school’s leader in career assists per game (6.0). In his senior campaign, he earned Second Team All-MVC honors, claimed the Doug Collins Award as the team’s Most Valuable Player and was named the top athlete at Illinois State. Cason also set the school single-game record for assists with 16.
 
He began his coaching career as a student assistant coach under Stallings. Cason earned his bachelor’s degree in recreation management from Illinois State in 1996.
 
Cason and his wife, Tamara, have three children: daughters Da-Via and Taylor, and son, DJ.