MIAMI, FL – Today, Conference USA announced its postseason awards, two of which were won by FIU Men’s Basketball forwards. Both Corey Stephenson and Eric Dibami won CUSA honors in their first seasons at FIU.
Corey Stephenson
A transfer out of CSU Bakersfield, Stephenson was named to the All-Conference Second Team. He put on one of FIU Men’s Basketball’s best seasons in program history, averaging a team-high 17.8 points per game.
This season of Corey in the House was UNBELIEVABLE 😱@STBCOREY https://t.co/WQD0CLmrhf pic.twitter.com/UcmSswkQyk
— FIU Men's Basketball (@FIUHoops) March 9, 2026
In his 30 starts, he scored in double figures in all but one game, having nine 20+ point games and one 30-point performance. Stephenson was just the 11th player to ever score at least 500 points in a season, becoming the first to do so since Denver Jones in 2023.
He finished third on the team in double-doubles with four such games. The best example of his prolific efforts on the court came in an 81-78 road win against New Mexico State (1/24). Stephenson dropped 25 points on 10/12 free-throw shooting while grabbing a season-high of 12 rebounds.
THERE IS ICE IN COREY STEPHENSON'S VEINS! pic.twitter.com/fNFF7SV8No
— FIU Men's Basketball (@FIUHoops) January 24, 2026
In an 88-84 double overtime victory at Middle Tennessee (2/4), he scored a career-high of 34 points on 4/8 3-point shooting and grabbed nine boards in the process. His point totals were the second-most in a road game in program history, behind Carlos Arroyo’s 39-point game at North Texas on December 30, 2000.
Corey Stephenson’s statistics in Conference USA didn’t go unnoticed. He finished third in points (535), fourth in steals (42) and points per game, fifth in field goals (178) and steals per game (1.4) while ending seventh in offensive rebounds (73) as well. He led his team in steals, made threes (68), and rebounds (188). Stephenson led the team in scoring 13 times.
Eric Dibami
A freshman out of ABF Academy and Miami Prep, Dibami became the first Panther to be named both All-Freshman and All-Defense honors in a season. He finished one of FIU Men’s Basketball’s best freshman seasons in program history.
Big E had one of the best freshman seasons in PROGRAM HISTORY 👀@eric_dibami https://t.co/WQD0CLmrhf pic.twitter.com/42OigDFru7
— FIU Men's Basketball (@FIUHoops) March 9, 2026
He capped off the regular season averaging 9.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and 1.3 steals per game, both of which were in the top-15 of Conference USA. During the season, Dibami led the team with seven double-double games. It was the highest among rookies in the conference and fourth overall in the league.
The best example of his impeccable efforts on the court came in an 89-74 home win against New Mexico State (1/2). Dibami scored 16 points on 6/10 shooting while grabbing 10 rebounds, making four steal contributions, and blocking two shots.
EVERYTHING IS COMING UP PANTHERS 🤓@eric_dibami pic.twitter.com/j6oYKRRCK5
— FIU Men's Basketball (@FIUHoops) January 2, 2026
His seven double-double performances rank in third place in a single season by an FIU freshman, behind Ruben Colon, who had eight in the 1989-90 season. In FIU’s freshman regular-season history, Dibami is fourth in rebounds (210), rebounds per game (7.2), steals (42), and blocks (41), and second in field goal % (53.3).
Dibami led the team in rebounding 15 times, having 10+ rebounds on nine occasions. He had multiple blocks in ten contests, including consecutive games of four blocks to close out the season. Dibami also had 11 games with at least two steals.
The Road Ahead
The eighth-seeded Panthers will battle ninth-seeded Missouri State on Tuesday at 6:30 pm in Huntsville for the first round of the CUSA Tournament.
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