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Isaiah Thomas Fired By FIU

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – He was brought in to build the Florida International University men's basketball team into a power. Instead, Isaiah Thomas has been fired by FIU after a miserable 8-21 season, according to Ken Berger of CBS Sports.

Thomas took over the Panthers program after leaving the New York Knicks following a series of embarrassments that included the Eddy Curry saga and a sexual harassment lawsuit.

While at FIU, Thomas never won more than 11 games in a single season.

FIU finished 7-25 in Thomas' first season at FIU in 2009-2010. The next year saw Thomas' Panthers put together an 11-19 record. Finally, FIU's basketball team finished last season with an 8-21 record.

Thomas hasn't issued a comment or statement on his firing.

"I want to thank Isiah Thomas for his three years at FIU," FIU executive director of sports entertainment Pete Garcia said in a statement. "However, we have decided to take the program in a different direction."

The hiring of Thomas caught most off-guard as many believed he wanted to stay in the ranks of the NBA. But after his career ended with New York in 2008, most NBA teams didn't want to hire him.

Thomas has been an executive with the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks and was also the head coach in Indiana and with the Knicks.

Speculation has run rampant over the past few years that Thomas was eyeing a return to the Knicks.

The Knicks recently fired their head coach, Mike D'Antoni, after the team failed to grasp his offense and he failed to adapt to the players on his team.

Knicks chairman James Dolan has never made it a secret about his loyalty to Thomas and with vacancies available in his organization, he could bring Thomas back.

However, New York fans remember the mess that Thomas left with the team and may not stand for him coming back to try and help build the Knicks with the current foundation already in place.

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