FIU men’s basketball coach Jeremy Ballard will not return
Jeremy Ballard, who has had the longest coaching tenure in the history of FIU’s men’s basketball program, will not return next season, according to a source.
Ballard, who had been FIU’s coach the past eight seasons, was relieved of duty Wednesday by athletics director Scott Carr.
After going 20-14 and then 19-13 in his first two years at FIU, Ballard endured six straight losing seasons. His contract expired on Tuesday after his Panthers were eliminated in the first round of the Conference USA tournament, losing 75-72 to Missouri State. FIU finished the season with a 15-17 overall record, 8-12 in league play.
For his eight years at FIU, Ballard went 113-141 overall and 50-95 in league play.
Ballard, a 44-year-old native of Atlanta, had been an assistant at several universities before landing his first head coaching job at FIU. In order, he served as an assistant at his alma mater, Colgate; Tulsa; VCU; Illinois State; Pittsburgh; and VCU (again).
FIU, meanwhile, had very little success since starting its basketball program as an independent in 1987. The Panthers have made the NCAA Tournament just once, losing to UCLA in the first round in 1995.
The Panthers have progressed in terms of conferences, moving up from the TAAC to the Sun Belt and now Conference USA. The team has played for a total of nine coaches, including former NBA superstar Isaiah Thomas. But no coach has put together more than two straight winning seasons at FIU.
FIU will now conduct a national search for its new coach. Among the possible candidates are Nova Southeastern University’s Jim Crutchfield, who has won two national titles (Division II) in the past three years; and Miami native Frank Martin, who is in his fourth season at Massachusetts. Martin took South Carolina to the NCAA Final Four in 2017.
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 12:40 PM with the headline "FIU men’s basketball coach Jeremy Ballard will not return."
