Visit by NBA superstar highlights busy FIU basketball offseason

There’s a new football and a new baseball coach at FIU, but possibly the most thrilling thing to happen to the Panthers lately was a visit to campus by NBA superstar Ja Morant in June.

Morant worked out with the FIU players, gave them words of wisdom and competed against them in an open-gym setting.

“I told him I would create roster space if he wanted to return to school,” FIU men’s basketball coach Jeremy Ballard joked.

Ballard said FIU is in a great spot.

“One of the special things about Miami is all the NBA players who live down here or visit in the offseason, and they need places to work out,” Ballard said.

“We love that so many of those guys want to be in our gym, and it’s great for our players to see up close how they work.”

Ballard said he was told Morant did not take it easy on the FIU players.

“He was Ja Morant -- full energy, athletic, explosive,” Ballard said.

Ballard, coming off a 15-17 season that marked FIU’s second straight losing year, is hoping he found some “full energy” players among the seven new recruits he has signed for 2022-2023. After all, Ballard went 20-14 and 19-13 in his first two years at FIU before the current slump, which includes a 9-17 record in 2020-2021.

Gone from last season are three starters who exhausted their eligibility: 6-5 wings Isaiah Banks and Eric Lovett and 6-8 forward Clevon Brown. They combined to start 91 games last season.

In addition, five players decided to transfer, including starting point guard Tevin Brewer (Duquesne). Brewer led FIU in scoring (15.2).

The other players transferring out are reserves Aquan Smart (Southeast Missouri); Victor Hart (Southern Miss); CJ Kelly (junior college); and Daniel Parrish (undecided).

FIU’s top returner is Denver Jones, who finished second on the team in scoring last season (12.5). Starting center Seth Pinkney, who ranked sixth on the team in minutes per game (17.3), also returns after averaging 4.0 points and 4.2 rebounds.

Ballard is bringing in four freshmen, including 6-foot Arturo Dean and 6-3 Dashon Gittens, who served as the starting backcourt for Putnam Science in Connecticut. Dean played previously for Calusa Prep and South Miami High.

“Dean is great with the ball in his hands on the pick and roll,” said Jacob Shaw of MiamiDadeBasketball.com. “He’s got a high basketball IQ.”

FIU also signed Darryon Scott, a 6-11 center from Philadelphia; and Jayden Brewer, a 6-5, 170-pound guard from Indianapolis who averaged 16.6 points this past season at a Charlotte prep school.

As freshmen, those four players face a learning curve in college. But Ballard is hoping for an immediate impact from his three transfers: 6-4, 200-pound shooting guard Austin Williams (Hartford); 6-5, 250-pound power forward Nick Guadarrama (New Hampshire); and 6-4, 190-pound shooting guard John Williams Jr. (Division II Glenville State).

Here’s a quick look at the transfers:

▪ Austin Williams, as a senior, made first-team All-America East Conference, averaging 16.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.4 steals. He shot 61.9 percent from the foul line, 50 percent from the floor and 30.8 percent on 3-pointers on a 12-20 team.

As a junior, he was the MVP of the America East postseason tournament, averaging 21.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in four games.

He played his first two years at Marist, sat out one season as a transfer and played two more at Hartford. This will be his sixth year in college.

A native of New Jersey, he led Hartford to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021. He scored in double figures in 15 straight games as a senior.

▪ Guadarrama – built like a tight end – was a two-year starting high school quarterback in Pennsylvania. At New Hampshire, he has made second-team All-America East Conference in each of the past two seasons.

Last season, he scored a career-high 32 points against Albany. He made 11-of-16 field goals, including 5-of-7 on 3-pointers, and he added 5-of-6 on free throws.

For the season, he started 25 games, averaging 12.7 points and 5.2 rebounds. He also represented Puerto Rico’s Under-19 team in 2017.

▪ John Williams, a Georgia native, ranked second in Division II with a 24.4 scoring average. He had 110 assists and 107 turnovers in 28 games, making 71.4 percent on free throws, 44.6 percent from the floor and 30.1 percent on 3-pointers for a 12-16 team.