Empty blue seats outnumber Golden Panthers fans 50 to 1.
But in the first three losing games of the Golden Panthers' season, the Hall of Famer's team was outscored 268-191. Its overall record stands at an abysmal 7-19. In the Sun Belt Conference, a middling group of unrated basketball teams, FIU is last in the East Division with a 4-9 tally.
The gridiron Panthers had a dismal year, and the basketball team has averaged a paltry 120 attendees per home game this season. The arena seats 6,000.
In fact, FIU's home attendance is definitely not a good recruiting tool. According to information the school provided, the Golden Panthers have sold a total of 1,075 individual tickets for nine home games played between this past November 17 and January 23. But the school has seen a boost in season ticket sales from last year's 207 to this year's 507.
In fact, bringing in the disgraced ex-Knicks boss is beginning to look like a sign of desperation from a university that has struggled to validate its investment in competing in big-time college athletics.
Alvarado is being generous with that "beginning" in the last sentence. While Mario Cristobal builds the FIU football team (8-16 in 2008 and 2009 after being 1-23 in 2006 and 2007) and comes without baggage, Thomas is floundering even with a few good junior college players. The Golden Panthers went 13-20 last year; to even get to that mark this year, they will need to win out in the regular season and win one game in the Sun Belt Tournament. This looks more and more like a failed ploy to goose ticket sales with every loss.

And though Thomas is donating his salary back to the school and has been able to wrangle a few good recruits for the 2011 class, his presence is not the "positive impact on our university as a whole" that former FIU president Modesto Maidique prophesied at his hiring. That would require, at a minimum, equal buzz at the school to the negative response the team gets on the road. Unless the dull hum of averaging less than 120 tickets sold for each home game counts as equal buzz, I think Isiah's on the losing side of the ledger.

There's still time to turn everything around, and those touted recruits could be the key in 2011. Right now, though, Isiah Thomas is lost in the wilderness. And that cannot be what anyone involved with the decision to bring him to FIU wanted

Read more: http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/55231/how_the_mighty_have_fallen,_starring_isiah_thomas_at_florida_international?obref=obinsite#ixzz0uZQyf1UE

BRIGGS wrote:You don't walk into a POS school like that and expect to go 20-7 with the sht they had. You need 4 years to get your guys in there. This guy is a hack just writing out of his arse. They should be on their knees that isiah is there.

if he turns it around there thats fine. if they continue to blow $$$ out the door, what would they thank him for?

crzymdups wrote:

sidsanders wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:You don't walk into a POS school like that and expect to go 20-7 with the sht they had. You need 4 years to get your guys in there. This guy is a hack just writing out of his arse. They should be on their knees that isiah is there.

if he turns it around there thats fine. if they continue to blow $$$ out the door, what would they thank him for?

he donated his salary back to the school this season.

with little rev coming in even his donation isnt closing the gap unless things turn around at the gate and other rev streams increase.

BRIGGS wrote:

sidsanders wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

sidsanders wrote:

BRIGGS wrote:You don't walk into a POS school like that and expect to go 20-7 with the sht they had. You need 4 years to get your guys in there. This guy is a hack just writing out of his arse. They should be on their knees that isiah is there.

if he turns it around there thats fine. if they continue to blow $$$ out the door, what would they thank him for?

he donated his salary back to the school this season.

with little rev coming in even his donation isnt closing the gap unless things turn around at the gate and other rev streams increase.

He has to have chance to get his guys in there--you could turn it with one recruit and he has a good class coming in. People want to pay for a competitive team in this environment--they are not paying for losing.

i dont know what fiu has for booster orgs or alumni donations to the sports programs, if they are mad (if they even exist), thats not so good. hes gotta win over a lot of folks. mad boosters end coaches tenure early.