Jamil Ferrer | March 23, 2026

Following the departure of former FIU Men’s Basketball Head Coach Jeremy Ballard, FIU has named Joey Cantens as the 10th head coach in FIU men’s basketball history.

They bring in a South Florida native who loves to win, as previously Cantens was head coach at Daytona State, where he had a 120-40 overall win record with it being 109-21 in the last four years.

Joey Cantens was Coach of the Year every season at Daytona State College and also part of the coaching staff on the “Dunk City” FGCU Sweet Sixteen team back in 2013.

Coaching around big names like John Calipari and Leonard Hamilton, while also having an outstanding background from coaching in places such as the NBA as a guest coach with the San Antonio Spurs, Europe with Germany Pro basketball teams, and the Dominican Republic national team.

Realistically, jumping from Juco to Division I as a coach is a difficult job, and even more challenging to make an instant impact, yet, you can’t stop a winner—at any level.

Cantens is a young, winning coach who already has Miami roots, which can help the FIU basketball program as it can translate to finding local talent and recruiting opportunities.

For the Panthers, this is a much needed, big step forward into changing the culture for their men’s basketball program. The future looks very promising for both new Head Coach Joey Cantens and the Panthers Basketball Team.

(Cover Photo via FIU Athletics)