FIU Executive Director of Sports and Entertainment Pete Garcia announced today that Isiah Thomas has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the FIU men’s basketball program.
“We want to thank Isiah Thomas for his three years here at FIU,” Garcia said. “However, we have decided to take the program in a different direction.”
A national search for the Panthers’ next head basketball coach will begin immediately.
According to Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, “Thomas signed a five-year deal with FIU, taking nothing in base salary for his first season and agreeing to a deal where he would receive nearly half of any gross revenues from ticket sales, commissions collected on food and beverage concessions and sponsorships. But FIU never generated the buzz it and Thomas envisioned. The Panthers averaged 1,071 fans at home this season, nearly four times that many on the road. “We just needed a break here or a break there, and it’s not happening for us,” Thomas said last month, shortly after FIU’s 8-21 season ended with a loss to eventual Sun Belt tournament champion Western Kentucky. “I know we’re getting there. We’ve had so many close games. If we keep working, good things will happen.”
