Former FIU all-conference star Carlos Arroyo has lived his dream of playing in the NBA, and is now currently under contract with Israeli giants Maccabi Tel-Aviv. A native of Fajardo, Puerto Rico, he is arguably the most successful Puerto Rican player in that country’s professional basketbal history.

A four-year letterman with the Golden Panthers (1998-2001), Arroyo still holds a number of individual school marks. He is the Golden Panthers’ career-record holder in assists (459), and is the only FIU player to have 600 points in a single season when he scored 615 during his 2000-01 senior campaign. Currently, Arroyo is the second all-time leading scorer in FIU basketball history with 1,600 career points, behind only Dwight Stewart. Arroyo was a two-time member of the All-Sun Belt Conference team and was selected to the 2001 SBC Championship All-Tournament team.

Arroyo’s professional career began when the Toronto Raptors signed him in October 2001, making him only the fifth Puerto Rican in history to play in the NBA. He moved on to the Denver Nuggets later that season, seeing limited action in 37 games over the course of the year.

But his fortunes changed over the summer of 2002 after signing a free agent contract with the Utah Jazz as part of a plan to replace the future Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton.

After signing a one-year contract with the Jazz for 2003-04, Arroyo started 71 games that year and in November of that season, ranked 11th in the league in assists per game. On Nov. 14, 2003, he scored a career-best 30 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves that also broke the record for most points scored by a Puerto Rican in an NBA game. He ended the year averaging 12.6 points and his 8.5 assists per 48 minutes ranked 15th best in the league. Arroyo dished out a career-high 13 assists in a game vs. Portland on Oct. 29, 2003.

In January 2005, Arroyo was traded to the Detroit Pistons, playing a role in the Pistons’ drive toward a second-consecutive NBA championship title that ended with a seven-game series against the San Antonio Spurs. Midway through the 2005-06 season, he was dealt to the Orlando Magic where he saw action in 27 games and averaged 10.8 points and nearly three assists per contest.

Despite his NBA accomplishments, Arroyo is probably best known for his participation in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. First, he carried the national flag representing Puerto Rico in the opening ceremonies and then led his national team to a stunning 92-73 victory over Team United States, scoring 25 points, dishing seven assists and making four steals in the winning effort. Arroyo was awarded with All-Olympic honors

Arroyo remains the toast of his homeland and is considered one of the best international point guards. During the 2006 FIBA World Championship, he averaged 21.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists in five games for the Puerto Rican team, ranking tied for fourth in points-per-game average.

Former FIU all-star Raja Bell has been a mainstay on NBA rosters for the last eight seasons.

Bell enjoyed a break-out year in 2005-06 as a member of the Phoenix Suns. He became a solid contributor, starting all 79 games in which he played and finishing with 14.7 points per game in 37.5 minutes. Bell scored his NBA-best 31 points in a game against the Seattle Supersonics on Jan. 22, 2006, and ranked third in the NBA behind only Ray Allen and Gilbert Arenas with 197 three-point field goals. He did even better in 2006-07 with 205 total 3-pointers, tying Arenas for the league lead.

Bell emerged as a strong defender off the bench in the 2001 Playoffs for the Philadelphia 76ers in their run to the NBA Finals, guarding stars like Milwaukee’s Ray Allen and Los Angeles’ Kobe Bryant. His coming out performance was in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals when he scored 10 points in nine minutes, helping propel the 76ers to the conference championship and a berth in the NBA Finals.

The following season, as a member of the Dallas Mavericks, he started 32 games for a team that set a franchise record for wins and advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

For two seasons after that, he toiled as a member of the Utah Jazz where he established a reputation as a "hard-nosed" defender and a "fierce" competitor. In 2003-04, he was recognized as one of the premier sixth-men in the league while averaging 11.2 points as one of just two Jazz players to see action in all 82 contests.

Before signing a four-year free-agent contract with the Suns, Bell played 63 games in 2004-05 for the Jazz with 32 starts. Averaging nearly 30 minutes of playing time per contest, he finished with 12.3 points per game—his highest pro average up to that time—while still playing sterling defense.

Over his NBA career, Bell has now played 456 professional games averaging 9.8 points and nearly 26 minutes per game.

Bell was a fourth-round draft pick (29th overall) by the Yakima Sun Kings in the 1999 CBA Draft and was named to the 1999-2000 CBA All-Rookie Team. He signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs in August 2000, prior to heading back to Yakima for more seasoning and then was signed by Philadelphia on April 16, 2001 where he came into his own.

Bell played two seasons with the Golden Panthers (1997-99) after transferring from Boston University. He was a two-time all-conference selection, with the Trans America Athletic Conference (now the Atlantic Sun) as a junior and the Sun Belt as a senior. Bell scored 965 points over his two-year FIU career, which included 16.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists as a senior, and his 16.6 ppg career average is third best in Golden Panther history.

As an amateur, Bell was named first-team all-city, all-county, second-team all-state and honorable mention McDonald’s All-America while attending Miami Killian High School, played for the West team in the 1995 Olympic Festival and was a member of the U.S. Virgin Islands National team in 1997-98 and 2003.

Bell is married to the former Cindy Greenman, an accomplished FIU student-athlete in her own right. Greenman played with the Golden Panthers women’s soccer team from 1992-96, was selected the 1993 Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year and remains the program’s third all-time leading scorer.

The couple had their first child, Dia, on May 2, 2007, just hours before tip-off against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs.