Florida Atlantic’s men’s basketball team has gone through a full 180 of changes since this time last season. Only four players and one coach remain from the 2023-24 roster.
Former head coach, Dusty May, served for the Owls for six years. After the team fell short in the first round of March Madness in 2024, he made his declaration on March 23 to depart to the University of Michigan.
Athletic Director Brian White worked quickly to bring in a new acclaimed head coach. He casted his net to find John Jakus on March 27. Jakus is coming to FAU from Baylor University, where he racked up quite the record. Jakus earned a National Championship win in 2021 and six total National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) tournament appearances.
The Owls’ leading center and a fan favorite, Vlad Goldin, followed May to UM. Others spread their wings to explore opportunities at other universities. As more players, such as Johnell Davis, Alijah Martin and Nick Boyd, followed the trend of announcing their decision to leave FAU and look elsewhere, one post stood out from the crowd.
On April 8, forward Tre Carroll came forward with an Instagram post where he announced his commitment to stay at FAU. He said that what Jakus has accomplished at Baylor and Gonzaga University is “unbelievable,” as well as his experiences coaching overseas, which played a role in Carroll’s decision to stay with the Owls.
“I love the fans here in Boca, and the way the Elly just rocks at every home game. Boca is a lot like my hometown of Port Charlotte,” said Carroll. “Leaving something I’m very familiar with would have just been kind of wrong of me to do I guess. I have a beautiful life down here. My fiance is down here too.”
In addition to Carroll, guards Jack Johnson, Jakel Powell and Devin Vanterpool stayed after May’s departure. The three shared a similar sentiment as Carroll, that Jakus’ coaching record played a factor in their decision.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty coming in. I didn’t know Jakus prior. I didn’t know anybody else on the staff beforehand,” said Johnson. “So really just my first meeting with him I saw how genuine he was… I just didn’t want to leave Boca Raton, the community. They call it paradise for a reason. It’s easy to want to stay here.”
Not only did the four players remain, but so did assistant coach Todd Abernethy. He has been with the Owls for five years, coaching under May when the team made their historic Cinderella run to the Final Four and an appearance the year after.
Boca has become a “special place” in the hearts of his family. Abernethy, along with his wife and four kids, has grown to love the area. But he knew that with the coaching profession, he doesn’t have the freedom to choose where he plants roots.
“I think with seeing what we did a couple years ago by going to the Final Four, having a chance to compete for a national championship here at FAU and then following it up with another NCAA Tournament. You know, my family, personally, we love it here and we wanted to stay,” said Abernethy.
When Abernethy heard of Jakus coming to FAU he “honestly did not know him.” After doing research on Jakus, Abernethy quickly came to the same conclusion as the players: Jakus understands how to generate success.
The decision helped the four returning players with the transition of a brand new coaching staff and roster.
“It’s really important, since he’s a piece of last year and last year was a staff that recruited me. So Todd being here, he shows like a little sign of family still, and then these boys are my new family,” said Powell.
The team gave Abernethy the nickname of “TA.” Johnson, along with Vanderpool, shared that they have grown closer with TA over the past year and have a close relationship on and off the court.
Not only has Abernethy’s relationship with the players grown, but so has his role during practices.
“He’s definitely had a bigger role this year than he did years prior. He’s just been really good with all the guards and everybody. He’s just adopted a bigger role with the new change of scenery and I think he’s gonna thrive really well this year,” said Johnson.
With the addition of 11 players and a new coaching staff, a family is being built from the ground up, and they’ve already had success growing the bonds.
“This team has gotten unbelievably close just like in the first two months… I love each and every one of them. I know that they love me back, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them. I’m just excited to go to war with them,” said Carroll.
Over the summer, they did immense bonding activities to acclimate the five freshman international players to the U.S. and the team as a whole.
“I’m a pretty shy guy, so it took a little bit of time over the summer; it’s been really good. We were all here to get to know each other. But, I’ve kind of taken it upon myself and Devin, Jakel, Trey, all four of us, have taken them around Boca, showed the spots, taken to the beach,” said Johnson.
Carroll reminisced on his favorite moment when the team went to Longhorn and pretended that it was center Mantas Kocanas’ birthday. They all sang for him and embarrassment quickly spread on Kocanas’ face. Powell shared that going out to eat together is a regular activity. Powell in particular, loved when they went to forward Baba Miller’s house to grill and swim in his pool.
As the 2024-25 season embarks on Nov. 4, a new team, a new culture and a new family is being built around first-time head coach Jakus.
“Last year’s model has been serve and compete, but this year it’s family over everything. So it’s a whole new culture that we’re all learning, but we all bought into it,” shared Carroll.
In their couple months with Jakus, the four players have grown to love his coaching style and how he gives them the freedom to “just hoop,” as Carroll put it.
“I like the pace that we’re going. We move the ball a lot. We get up and down. He likes quick shots, early shots. He likes to score the ball. So that’s a really big thing, and defensive wise, we always got a lot there,” said Powell.
Vanterpool described himself as a “pocket knife,” there to serve for any role that Jakus wants from him, a sentiment the other three players shared. They intend to provide the team with leadership, as they understand the importance of each and every game to secure a bid in the NCAA tournament.
The Owls have wrapped up their two exhibition games, with a 104-53 win against Saint Leo University and a 102-72 loss against Auburn University, a team ranked 11th in the country per Associated Press top 25 preseason poll.
FAU begins their regular-season play on Monday with a road game against Indiana State University. The road ahead of them won’t be easy, as they play the University of Charleston, Oklahoma State University and conclude non-conference play with Michigan State University.
But, the team will begin their voyage from Paradise with comradery and a head coach who knows what it takes to win a National Championship.
Megan Bruinsma is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories email her at [email protected] or DM her on Instagram @megan_bruinsma or Twitter (X) @MeganBruinsma.
