Florida International has hired Isiah Thomas to be the Golden Panthers’ next coach. Thomas is a member of the basketball Hall of Fame as a national and world champion. He played for Indiana and won the 1981 championship while learning from Division I’s leader in career coaching victories, Bob Knight. In the NBA, Thomas guided the bad boy Detroit Pistons to back-to-back to titles in 1989 and 1990. His coaching experience includes five seasons with the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks, which produced three playoff runs.
Thomas was under constant fire as president of basketball operations with the Knicks as he seemingly had little interest in team chemistry, opting to collect high-priced big-name players who rarely lived up to their hype — or price tag. In a university press release, Thomas said he looks forward to starting fresh in college, and he highlighted some of the Florida International position’s attraction.
“Coming back to the college game has always been a dream of mine, and I didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to go somewhere where we can build a basketball legacy together,” said Thomas. “A lot of people don’t know that FIU is one of the 25 largest universities in the country, with a tremendously strong alumni community standing behind us. Most important, I think we can get good players from across Florida and around the country to buy into our plan to make this a top-tier basketball program. I’m committed to growing something here, and strongly believe that over time, we’ll put a team on the floor that everyone at FIU can be proud of.”
