Isiah Thomas will coach FIU in its opener Monday night against No. 6 North Carolina, hours after his 86-year-old mother had open-heart surgery.

Thomas arrived in Chapel Hill, N.C., early Monday, after spending Sunday in Chicago with his mother, Mary.

Mary Thomas emerged from the surgery “well,” said Hashim Alauddeen, FIU’s director of basketball operations. Isiah Thomas didn’t immediately return a call to his cell phone Monday.

He was at shootaround with the Golden Panthers on Monday, then planned to spend the afternoon in his hotel room preparing for the game.