Basketball season is right around the corner and FAU Mens basketball coach John Jakus spoke with members of the media Monday afternoon addressing a variety of topics as the team approaches preseason play. FAU nation got a first look at the 2024-2025 Owls at the annual Paradise Madness event last Wednesday, where the Owls played an intrasquad scrimmage and displayed their high-flying offense in front of Owls fans at Eleanor R Baldwin Arena. Although it was just a scrimmage, the Owls were able to give a glimpse at the fast paced offense that they described during the offseason, with one squad even breaking 60 points in 1 half of basketball. Coach Jakus mentioned that it was encouraging to see one of the teams score 60 points in a half however, defensively giving up that many points is a bit of a sour note. After playing, I think we’re pretty certain that we’re going to play fast and run, and the scoring 60 points by one team in one half is certainly encouraging. At the same time, you can set that on the other side of the coin, and you can say, giving up that many probably isn’t very encouraging. So you’re early on. The guys meant to have fun and grow from the experience, but we immediately went to the film to see how we could get better. And then I think the guys’ camaraderie and the way they interacted with each other and the way they came across, I think people saw that we really care. So there was enough to grow from that I think we left encouraged, Jakus said. One of the bigger points of the offseason was the teams mantra of relationships over everything and that was on display during the scrimmage as the team looked unified both on and off the court, assisting on a lot of baskets and engaging with the fans that attended the event. This team of majority new pieces was able to gel quickly and that was because of the positive personalities on this team. With players coming into the program, that creates competition as they compete for roles on the team and if a team isnt unified that could create problems. That doesnt look to be the case at FAU as despite having a slew of talented players at multiple positions, Coach Jakus believes that the competition is healthy and that it will result in a squad that is strong and balanced. I would say that when it comes to the competition as a whole, it’s a friendly competition, they’re friends and they compete, so the two things have to exist at the same time. I think these guys have done a good job. Not over the line where things have become personal, but certainly there’s moments in practice this past week where things get chippy enough because you’re just ready to play somebody else. It’s not because they don’t care about each other. It’s just probably that time. And then when it comes to the guard club, you could come to practice five different days and see five different best guards. And Nico certainly played well that night. And Ken, I think, has been as consistent of any of the group of guards that we’ve had, as far as the maturity and age and experience, you’re always going to kind of get the same thing from him. But I’m fairly certain that you could show up to five different practices at five different answers, so on that particular night, if you just happen to stand out, we won’t make our big decisions based on that day, but we’re thankful for the ones that played, Jakus said. Multiple players mentioned the excitement of playing in front of FAU nation heading into the season and although it wasnt the regular season atmosphere the flamingos were rolling and the building was rocking. The Owls have sold out every home game over the past 2 years and Coach Jakus and the Owls have every intent of making that 3 years in a row and beyond. As for paradise madness, a lot of what occurred was based off what Jakus experienced at Gonzaga scrimmages and he was incredibly thankful for the fans who attended. He also notes that he expects Saturdays matchup with Saint Leo to have even more fans than the scrimmage, and that next year’s paradise madness will be the most attended yet. I think that I was humbled by the whole thing, one, because we chose to play a 20 minute half, and that’s just never been done here, and it’s kind of a Gonzaga tradition that I wanted to start. And then I think now that people know what’s going to happen, and that’s part of it, my expectation, at least from what I’ve heard, that next year’s attendance will be even better. And so for people to experience that last second and not really know what was coming, and to have that level of turnout and then their overall reaction and support, we were incredibly thankful and humbled. I imagine this Saturday there will be even more, and I think by the time we get going full time, this thing will be sold out. So I was humbled it would probably be the right word. It was a good night, Jakus said. Now having seen the Owls in action, the question moves to who is going to be the stars and starters on this new rendition of FAU. A lot of talent means that there will be a lot of competition for the starting roles and that is why over the next 2 scrimmages against Saint Leo and Auburn the Owls will deploy multiple lineups to see what the best possible fit is. My guess is that we’re going to start two different lineups on Saturday, and so you shouldn’t overreact to the one that gets their name called at the beginning. There’ll be a different one in the second half. And then I don’t even think we’re looking to add to Auburn at this point. As far as who’s going to start, we’re solid 10 to 12 days away from that. And then you’ll see our real lineup when we play Indiana State. So we spoke today a little bit about who might start against St Leo this weekend. But I would say we instead spent most of our time on line up combinations. What it’s like to play the two point guards together, what it’s like to play a small ball lineup, Trey and Bob at the four and five, what our wrinkles can be, what four guards on the floor might look like. So I would say we’re still in the line for the combination portion of that, and we haven’t decided yet, Jakus said. Now heading into that first scrimmage against Saint Leo, Coach Jakus will get a look at his squad during live game action, which will allow him to get a look at what is clicking and what needs to be worked on prior to the beginning of the regular season. Saint Leo wont be the best example of a team that will give the Owls problems, however with a new team even a squad like Saint Leo may be able to find things to exploit, especially early on in a new regime. That is why heading into this matchup, Coach Jakus is keeping an eye on the discipline of his squad along with all of the little things that go into a successful team including taking care of the ball and rebounding. The number one thing that we’re looking for is discipline. I know we’re going to score, I know people are going to take turns looking good. I think at different times people are going to impress different people, whether it’s the fans or scouts or whoever it might be. But at the core, we want the discipline of our rules. You know, defense, rebounding, turnovers, taking care of the basketball, that kind of stuff is what impresses us as a staff. We’re not overly concerned about the ball going in and we just assume that’s happening at this point. So for us as separators, who’s going to be the toughest guys on the team, who’s really going to play in a way that leads to winning basketball? And we score a lot, but it doesn’t mean we’re trying to outscore people. We want to score a lot because we play the right way and we’re able to run off rebounds and turnovers. And so I think at this point, the little things will be what impresses us, even down to their body language when we sell them out of the game. We’re still at the very beginning stages of that. Our support looks to where it can be in January. As long as we focus on those things, Jakus said. In terms of overall health, there are a few injuries which will impact the upcoming scrimmages, however Coach Jakus wouldnt go into detail on who those injuries are to, only noting that one may return by Auburn. No, I think we’re still going to have two or three that are still recovering. I think you could see from the scrimmage that there’s a couple with injuries. We may get one of those back by Auburn, but I don’t want to over promise and under deliver. So before that, we’re sitting out. We’ll still be sitting out when we play Saint Leo, Jakus said. A big part of the teams preparedness heading into the season has been the staffs involvement, and the staff that Coach Jakus put together is one that contains a lot of basketball experience from a lot of levels. Todd Abernethy returns from the previous regime, while Jordan Fee has been an architect of a high level offense at nearly all of his stops, while Aditya Malhotra, Isaiah Austin and Obim Okeke all have NBA experience at some level. This level of basketball experience across multiple levels of Basketball is something that has the ability to impact this team in an extremely positive way, as the staff will be able to provide a level of coaching that not many will be able to provide. That level of coaching is something Jakus is very proud of and he believes the unity of his staff has rubbed off on his players. I believe in them, when you’re in my position, you could spend the whole time trying to prove yourself, or you can freely give things up to the staff that you believe in. And I’ve just been taught and watched others be real, sacrificial in the way that they share. And so for me, I think that they’ve all been doing a great job. I mean, you may have seen Todd and Jordan stand up because they were calling the offense, but I thought the rest did a great job on defense. Everybody was playing their role. I think you’re going to see a huge growth this week from the defensive side of the basketball and Isiah and AD have been hunkering down there. So I’m proud of the staff. I think we have an unbelievable one. And I think one of the reasons our guys like each other so much is because they see that our staff likes each other so much. And when you model that kind of unity as a staff, you probably get out of your locker room more often. When you’re dysfunctional and the coaches are fighting for their area, or they want to prove that they’re important, then the players start acting like that. So the thing I’m probably most proud of, is that there was a real sense of unity. And then after the game was done, it was like, Okay, we’re back to us. Let’s see how we can improve us. It wasn’t one team, one and over the other. That was just a display of who happened to play well for that 20 minutes. So I was really thankful for them, Jakus said. The staff and players are unified, but how did they go about helping Mantas Kocanas and Matas Vokietaitis, 2 Lithuanian nationals who have never played in the United state before, go about adapting to life both on and off the court. According to Coach Jakus, both have done a great job at adjusting to life in the US and a lot has been done on their own and with their move going smoothly, the on the court adjustments have been smooth and have led to a lot of positives for the big men. Oh, I think we probably thought those two are the ones we were least certain about what would happen when the lights came on and Matas obviously showed everybody. Off the bat that he’s pretty comfortable. And I thought Mantas, we call him Kocha, short for his last name, but Kocha had some real moments. The open three and some nice plays. So both did a really good job. It’s a full time deal to go in a second language, go to class, be in weights. Do your nutrition, learn to sleep, live full time in another culture. I think they’ve both done a really good job. And the cool thing about it is, as good as some people thought that they played, they’re not even near what they’ll be in January. That’s just the very first time they played in public. So I view that as their basement, and if that’s their basement, I thought we left the game feeling really good, Jakus said. A lot has been said about the change that has occurred throughout the program over the past couple of months, but a big part of what this new team has been able to become so quickly are the guys who remain from the previous regime. Jack Johnson, Tre Carroll, Devin Vanterpool, and Jakel Powell all decided to stick with the Owls during the offseason and all became honorary ambassadors for the city and school as Jakus and his staff recruited throughout the offseason. The culture that existed at FAU prior to the new era is due to what Dusty May and his team was able to accomplish over the past 2 years. Those 4 players staying behind allowed coach Jakus and his staff to have an outlet of that culture to tap into and help build a new one and also according to Jakus this team is better because Devin, Jakel, Tre and Jack chose to remain a part of the Owls family. People in the community really love the last team. You know, I’ve said before, I’ll say it again, Dusty did a great job. And we’re in a position where, early on, those four staying really helped us build a culture this summer. And now I think we need to take the fact that the fans care about this program,the fact that we’re moving in the right direction, and the fact that we kept four and then we need to turn it into the whole. And you know, for better or worse, we’re driving a car, and you can either look in a rear view mirror, you can look through the window. And I think we’re just looking through the window at this point. And so Trey and Dev Jakel and Jack did a good job of making sure we were stable when we were unstable in the beginning, and now I think they just fit in with the group. And it’s not about them leading, it’s about us being a team and a family. And I’m most thankful that they have really sacrificed and made the new group feel like family, and even made the staff feel like family. So we’re looking through the mirror, not the rear view mirror or the window, not the rear view mirror, and I think it’s time to move forward that way, but those four have certainly helped us get here, Jakus said. FAU will take on Saint Leo in an exhibition on Saturday at 2 pm from Eleanor R Baldwin arena in Boca Raton, the game will not be televised which will make it an even more intimate experience for the rowdy Owl fans who attend the game in paradise.
