FIU Golden Panthers

FIU basketball represents Florida International University out of Miami, playing home games at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center on the school's Modesto A. Maidique Campus. As a relatively young program in a crowded South Florida sports market, FIU has worked to build a following while cycling through several conference homes, now landing in Conference USA. The Panthers' identity centers on developing under-recruited talent in a city better known for football and soccer.

FIU basketball began in 1981 at the Division II level before the program moved up to Division I in 1987. The Panthers' most successful season came in 1997-98, when they went 21-8 under coach Shakey Rodriguez, and their lone NCAA tournament trip came in 1995 as an automatic qualifier out of the Trans America Athletic Conference. FIU has since competed in the Sun Belt and, since 2013, Conference USA.