FIU Panthers Prowl

Numbers & the new money man

FIU athletic director Pete Garcia confirmed what tormer Louisiana-Monroe athletic director Bobby Staub told the Monroe News-Star Tuesday: Staub will be FIU's new Senior Associate Athletic Director, a job recently vacated by Alex Duque. Staub and ULM parted ways in April.

Garcia said Staub's responsibilities will be broader than Duque's were. Staub will oversee sponsorships, marketing, the ticket office, sports information and advancement. 

According to Garcia, FIU's overall operating budget for 2013-14 projects total expenditures of $28,711,000 and total revenues of $29,258,000.

As for the recent team GPAs, I obviously need a stronger prescription in my glasses. The information I had in previous posts came from what I thought I saw on the screen during the Board of Trustees Athletics Committee meeting from Student-Athlete Academic Center Director Dr. Phil Moses. But, here's the correct numbers from Dr. Moses, who forwarded to me the chart he projected on the screen for the committee.

Men's basketball the last four semesters, starting from 2011-12: 2.16, 2.48, 2.18, 2.00.

Football the last four semesters, starting from 2011-12: 2.28, 2.46, 2.06, 2.14.

The most consistently strong team, as far as GPA, is swimming & diving followed closely by women's basketball. Both the Aquawomen and hoopsters femme have seven of the last eight semesters over 3.0. Swimming's one exception, fall 2010, was a 2.97. Women's basketball's one exception, fall 2011, was 2.91.

 

Another football commit for 2014, this one at WR

Atlanta Sports Academy wide receiver Jaron Locke, 6-2, 188, gave FIU his verbal (or electronic -- Twitter) commitment Monday night. Locke's not rated by ESPN, rated at two stars by Rivals and three stars by 247sports.com. He caught 52 passes for 1,152 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.

  

Buck-Crockett now queen of both volleyball castles; Thomas Bateast to St. Thomas

In a life-imitating-TV way, lately, I've been running into people shortly after thinking about them. And so did this trend continue when I ran into sand volleyball coach Rita Buck-Crockett just before sitting down to blog post that she's now also the indoor volleyball coach.

This wasn't on the drawing board when Buck-Crockett took the sand volleyball job, but the job also included being assistant athletic director in charge of all things volleyball. I don't think anybody expected indoor volleyball's season to start breaking down from the opener's prematch warmups, when Jovana Bjelica suffered a broken hand. They finished 10-19 and barely made the Sun Belt tournament.

Athletic director Pete Garcia said it was Buck-Crockett's call on whether or not to replace indoor volleyball coach Trevor Theroulde. Buck-Crockett figures with former Maryland and University of Miami assistant Felix Hou coming on staff as associate head coach for indoor and daughter Marrita Royster-Crockett as a year-round assistant for sand this year (she wasn't year-round last year), she'll be able to do both jobs smoothly.

Her standards don't describe "modest:" she wants a national title in sand volleyball, which lost only one player (All-American Kate Stepanova), and a Conference USA title and Top 25 ranking for the indoor game.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

After seven seasons as an FIU assistant, Desma Thomas Bateast will take over the St. Thomas University women's basketball program. Seeing as how Miami no longer has a WNBA team, Thomas Bateast hit for the 305 cycle in women's basketball -- tremendous high school player at American High, school Hall of Fame player at the University of Miami, assistant coach at FIU and now head coach at St. Thomas.

Another QB commits for 2014

Tampa Gaither quarterback Alex McGough announced his commitment to FIU Sunday evening via Twitter. Earlier in the day, the verbal commitment of quarterback Luke Medlock, brother of current FIU first-string quarterback Jake Medlock, was announced via Jake's Twitter.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, the 6-3 McGough completed 98 of 171 for 1541 yards, 20 touchdowns and only four interceptions. He ran 43 times for 213 yards, but I don't know how many of those 43 were sacks (taken off the rush yardage in high school and college, a ridiculous way to apply it). He was rated at two stars by 247sports.com and not rated by Scout.com, Rivals.com or ESPN.com.

 

 

 

Another Medlock to Le Campus de Modesto Madique

...or so FIU quarterback Jake Medlock says via Instagram.

Medlock's Instagram account claims his brother, Neptune Beach Fletcher quarterback and punter Luke Medlock, has committed to FIU.  

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/668023/highlights/17296378

Isiah and The APR and the Mid-Major Dance

Former FIU coach Isiah Thomas used a Huffington Post column to fire back at accusations from media and FIU (particularly athletic director Pete Garcia) that he's responsible for FIU's men's basketball's postseason ban for under-the-basement APR.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/isiah-thomas/education-of-athletes-is-_b_3437013.html

Some of what Thomas says in the column has been seen here in the April 5 post on this blog. He's right about the post-firing transfers damaging FIU's APR, although they weren't all in protest of his firing. That APR effect is one reason, I believe, some football transfer requests have been denied. Football could be in enough APR trouble next year without that.

Anyway, also note what I put in last week's post on the Board of Trustees Athletic Committee: the men's basketball team's GPA for the two semesters of 2011-12 were 2.18 and 2.16. Not exactly a trend of academic achievement there.

CORRECTION ON JUNE 18: The 2011-12 team GPAs were 2.16 and 2.48.

One member of the committee asked Dr. Phil Moses, director of the Student-Athlete Academic Center, if the problems in football and men's basketball were the academic abilities of the athletes recruited or the support system after they're here.

Look, let's be real about this: the four-star guy with the Stanford-level SAT or ACT isn't coming to FIU. He's going ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10. Maybe he gets a wild idea he'd like to be part of the group running the country and go to Harvard or Yale. But he isn't coming to Camp Mitch.

And we all know football and men's basketball coaches at any level get more job security from guys who can do 4.4 on the field or court than guys who can make a 4.4 in the classroom. Coaches at FIU and elsewhere at the "mid-major" level are trying to steal the best players they can from more prominent schools. They usually fail. They must scavange the remains -- a lot of guys who inspire "yeah, but he..." qualifiers. Sometimes, those cautions concern the academic end. But what's a coach to do?

You know: bring the kid on campus. Maybe that support could compensate for any shortcomings in teaching or academic acuity. At least, that's what the coach hopes while running the extracurricular activity that pays for the student-athlete's formal education while perhaps also hindering it.

 

Willis now with the Strikers

No, Willis Wright didn't switch sports.

The 21st century version of the North American Soccer League's Fort Lauderdale Strikers acquired Jahbari Willis, FIU forward from 2008-11, from Atlanta in a trade for Andy Herron. Willis signed with Atlanta last year. This seaosn, he's had two assists in 11 games.

BASKETBALL

The NCAA sanctions of men's basketball for low APR would allow Tymell Murphy or Ray Taylor to be immediately eligible should either choose to transfer. Of course, both have known that and that the sanctions were coming for a while.

So, it's no surprise that Taylor Tweeted Wednesday night a confirmation that he was staying in response to an online column saying he might transfer. Murphy declared he was staying last month. Not saying minds can't change, but there you go.

 

 

APR news, not-so-news (basketball postseason ban), a football departure

 I don't know what happened to this post. Somehow, inserting the Alice Cooper video eliminated the rest of the copy. I apologize.

In summary, the men's basketball team got the NCAA punishment expected for almost a year -- no postseason play in 2013-14, activity time limited to five days and 16 hours -- when the 2011-12 Academic Progress Rate came in at an abysmal 750. That pulled the four-year rate down to 858. The reasons behind the 833 for the 2010-11 school year, one of the factors in Isiah Thomas' firing, was discussed in an April 5 post on this blog. I'd heard stories of players willfully crashing their acadmics after Thomas' firing. Such a comically low APR score all but confirms that happened. Between that and transfers from the program post-firing, there's your 750.

The football team's single-season APR was 932 and four-year was 930. The leading programs on the four-year APR were tennis, 992, and swimming, 986. Women's basketball and golf both put up single-year APRs of 1000.

Football had the lowest four APR aside from basketball. Baseball had the lowest single season APR aside from basketball, 867.

ACADEMIC PROGRESS RATES

Baseball: multi-year, 945. 2011-12, 867

Men's basketball: multi-year, 858. 2011-12, 750.

Men's cross country: multi-year, 975. 2011-12, 938.

Football: multi-year, 930. 2011-12, 932.

Men's soccer: multi-year, 943. 2011-12, 975.

Men's indoor track: multi-year, 960. 2011-12, 970.

Men's outdoor track: multi-year, 952. 2011-12, 970.

Women's basketball: multi-year, 972. 2011-12, 1000.

Women's cross country: multi-year, 955. 2011-12, 980.

Women's golf: multi-year, 983. 2011-12, 1000.

Women's soccer: multi-year, 954. 2011-12, 958

Softball: multi-year, 967. 2011-12, 935.

Swimming: multi-year, 986. 2011-12, 991.

Tennis: multi-year, 992. 2011-12, 968.

Women's indoor track: multi-year, 957. 2011-12, 928.

Women's outdoor track: multi-year, 960. 2011-12, 943.

Volleyball: multi-year, 973. 2011-12, 932.

 

FOOTBALL

Sources close to Camp Mitch say yet another director of football operations, Nick Mehlhaff, has resigned. That's four directors of football operations since January 2012, two in the last five months.

 

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To The Board...

MLB drafts one from FIU

The Major League Baseball draft didn't tap the FIU roster until Saturday, when lefthanded pitcher Tyler Alexander got taken in the 27th round by Milwaukee.

In what probably will be his only season at FIU after time at Hillsborough Community College, Alexander went 4-6 with a 4.28 ERA and .255 opponent batting average in 15 starts. He struck out 101 batters and walked 62 in 90 1/3 innings. Alexander took over the No. 1 starter role after Mike Ellis' season-ending injury.

Picking up a class

This year's women's basketball class, announced Friday morning:

Karrah Johnson -- 6-0, forward, from Lake Highland Prep. Johnson averaged 11.0 points per game and 10.0 rebounds per game during her senior year.

Kiandre'a Pound -- 6-0 forward, from Sebastian River High, and was on Sebastian's 2012 Class 7A state titleists. She averaged 18.7 points and 10.8 rebounds in high school. She also did triple jump and high jump on the track team.

She's the sister of former FIU defensive tackle Andre Pound. According to TCPalm.com, she fell for FIU when she accompanied her older brother on his visit. Looking at their names, it's no shock that their father is Andre Pound, Sr.

Janka Hegedus -- 6-1, forward, out of Budapest Eotvos Jozsef High School. She's played for the Under 16 Hungarian National Team. FIU's had good fortune with players from Hungary (Andrea Nagy, Delma Ivanyi, more recently Fanni Hutlassa and Finda Mansare)

Nikolina Todorovic -- 5-6, guard from Bosnia Gymnasium Banja Luka, averaged 25.0 points, 6.0 assists and 5.0 steals per game .