Jeremy Ballard Looking Forward To FIU Ahead of Season

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MIAMI, FL – As FIU men’s basketball head coach Jeremy Ballard enters his eighth season leading the program, this marks the largest roster turnover he has experienced. It includes 12 newcomers and three returners.

Ready to run through a brick wall 🧱😤 pic.twitter.com/4gKV6lIspR

— FIU Men's Basketball (@FIUHoops) October 14, 2025

“It’s invigorating as a coaching staff to get a full new team, and we are reteaching everything from ground one to everyone, and that’s awesome,” Ballard told Lemon City Live. “It really ignites the teacher in you as a coach. Every drill, every set, every concept, our identity and culture. We have to make sure that we are really going above and beyond to define that because we have such a new team.”

A New Look For The Squad

Last season, Ballard didn’t bring in any Division I transfers, as all the newcomers came from the JUCO ranks. This time around, thanks to revenue sharing, the staff was able to add six Division I transfers. In addition, they also added one Division II transfer, one JUCO player, one international player, and two freshmen. Only three players are returning from last year’s roster.

“I couldn’t be any more appreciative of our administration for really showing a true commitment to wanting us to be successful,” Ballard said. “Believing in us as a program and as a staff. The way we want to show our appreciation is by bringing the best versions of ourselves every day that we step on the court and coming out here and winning.”

“That’s what we plan on doing. Appreciation is our number one core value, and so we are so appreciative of everything the administration has done for us, and we are going to show that every day with our effort.”

Big Time Transfer Portal

When entering the portal, Ballard looked for players who fit the team’s identity — fast, furious, and physical in “everything that we do.” He also sought players who embodied their core values: enthusiasm, appreciation, and toughness. On the court, the eighth-year coach noted the lack of shooting and ball security. It really hurt the team last season, leading to a 10-23 record. As a result, they focused on bringing in players who could strengthen those areas and add skill.

“We have a lot of highly skilled guys with a lot of character, and when you have those, you have a chance of being successful,” Ballard said.

The biggest addition out of the portal for this FIU team was guard/forward Corey Stephenson from Cal State Bakersfield. Stephenson started 30 of 32 games and averaged 11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds. He was the player chosen to join Ballard for the Conference USA Media Day interview.

get your popcorn ready 🍿 pic.twitter.com/6RY8a3ppro

— FIU Men's Basketball (@FIUHoops) May 19, 2025

“Corey (Stephenson) is the definition of an everyday guy,” Ballard said. “He’s the same guy every day. High energy, highly competitive, and he lifts others around him. He has enthusiasm, appreciation, and toughness,  which are our core values.”

“He really embodies those things. We were actually in an MTE with Cal State Bakersfield, where Corey was up close in person, and the preparation leading up to those games, and then in person, how great a fit he could be for us. As much as we identified that he would be a great fit, he has surpassed that every day.”

Putting The I In FIU

Two names that have stood out in practice are freshman center Eric Dibami and guard Thiago Sucatzky.

Dibami, a native of Yaoundé, Cameroon, stands at 6’10” and 235 pounds and played high school basketball at Miami Prep. He averaged 14.8 points and 12 rebounds per game. He earned MVP honors at the Big Shot Post Grad National Tournament, the SIAA Regional Conference, and the Miami-Dade All-Star Game. That was alongside First Team recognition in the Florida Sun Basketball Conference and has competed internationally in Cameroon and France.

Sucatzky, a native of Córdoba, Argentina, was teammates with Dibami at Miami Prep. He set a school record with 17 assists in a single game and totaled 163 assists in one season. He helped lead Miami Prep to a national championship and also competed in the U19 FIBA World Championship.

“They have a great deal of familiarity with each other,” said Ballard. “They are guys we got to know really well. They’re right in our backyard, so we got to learn who they were as people, not just as players. You come watch them, they don’t look like freshman, they don’t play like freshmen, and they don’t act like freshmen.”

“They’re hungry, their competitors. They’ve really built their bodies up in a short amount of time since they’ve been here. They both have international competition in their background.”

What’s To Come For FIU

With the new additions, there are also three returners. Most notably, guard Ashton Williamson who averaged 7.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game in 24 appearances (14 starts). Projected to start alongside New Mexico State transfer Zawdie Jackson, Ballard noted that Williamson had “an extremely underrated freshman season.”

“I think it really went under the radar, but he did a lot of good things for us, started about half the year. He’s really about what we are about, so we were very glad to get him back, and he’s grown an inch, gotten more athletic, stronger, and really matured into a leader.”

Ballard and the Panthers wrapped up their offseason at Hoopla on Thursday and will begin the regular season on Monday, November 3, against Florida National. The game can be streamed on ESPN+, with tip-off set for 7:00 p.m.

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