South Florida Basketball Reloads: Transfer Talent Shines in Miami, FAU and FIU Openers

The men’s college basketball season tipped off in South Florida on Monday, with all three Division I programs hosting their season openers to various degrees. 

The region is only two seasons removed from seeing both the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Atlantic Owls in the Final Four, but both teams look so far away from returning to the sport’s biggest stage. 

Miami, FAU, and FIU all won their season openers on Monday, and each win told a different story about how a fan can feel about their individual season prospects. The top takeaway from Monday is how many players on all three teams were playing their first game in their new uniforms. 

Teams change more dramatically from season to season in modern-day college basketball. Everything you thought about these squads the season prior is unvalid today. 

Miami downs Jacksonville 

After three seasons at Indiana, senior guard Malik Reneau made his Miami debut with 20 points, all of which were from mid-range shots and attacking the rim. 

The Hurricanes defeated Jacksonville, a solid squad from the Atlantic Sun, 86-69, by attacking the paint and using their strength and size to their advantage. Senior Ernest Udeh Jr., who transferred from TCU, recorded a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds in his Hurricane debut. 

Jacksonville saw three-point shooting as its route to victory. The Dolphins made four three-pointers to take an early 12-8 lead. However, they shot 4-of-28 from behind the arc the rest of the game and couldn’t keep up with the Hurricanes. 

All five Miami starters registered double-digit points, and all five of them were making their Hurricane debut. Jai Lucas is not only a new head coach, but he also brought in a brand new team with him to Miami. 

The Hurricanes’ three-point shooting is still to be desired, but they’ll have home matchups against Bethune-Cookman on Thursday and Stetson on Nov. 10 to prove that. They should be 3-0 entering their matchup against Florida on Nov. 16 and BYU on Nov. 27, both of which are in neutral sites. 

Florida Atlantic wins overtime thriller

Florida Atlantic’s road back to March Madness began with a bang on Monday, as the Owls beat Boston College 83-78 in overtime for the program’s first win over a power conference team since upsetting Miami in 2002. 

The Owls finished John Jakus’ first season as head coach in the NIT. But a win over an ACC team, even one as mediocre as Boston College, in a packed fieldhouse sets the stage for a promising season. 

Junior guard Kanaan Carlyle established himself as a go-to scorer for the Owls. Carlyle started his career as a reserve role player at Stanford, with 11.5 points per game in 23 games as a freshman. He transferred to Indiana the next season but saw less time on the court as a sophomore with the Hoosiers. He scored 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-8 from the three-point line. 

The Owls also have some fresh faces from overseas. Freshman Yohann Sissoko from France scored 15 points with a perfect 3-for-3 outside shooting. Junior Xander Pintelon from Belgium dropped 14 points, with 12 coming from beyond the arc. 

FAU travels to take on Charleston and Liberty over the weekend in the Field of 68 showcase. 

FIU conquers the Conquistadors

Unlike Miami and FAU, FIU started the season with a game against a NAIA opponent. The Panthers are searching for their first winning season since 2019-20, so any win is not one to scoff at. 

The Panthers’ 101-49 win over the Florida National Conquistadors was a display of what they may be capable of. Larry Olayinka made his FIU debut with 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting with seven rebounds. Olayinka previously played for Utah Tech and Samford, mainly as a reserve player searching for more opportunity on the court. 

Zawdie Jackson is another Panther to keep an eye on. Jackson, who averaged 10.5 PPG at New Mexico State last season, scored 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting and 3-of-3 from the three-point line in his Panther debut. 

Corey Stephenson spent the past two seasons at Cal State Bakersfield and averaged 11.4 points per game last year. He scored 16 points for the Panthers against FNU. Brit Harris has a similar resume from USC-Upstate and added 10 points for the Panthers. 

FIU’s new lineup will truly be tested against Nebraska and LSU in the coming week.