FAU Coach John Jakus met with the media earlier this week prior to the Owls matchup with Wichita State on Thursday. The Owls lead man spoke on their recent win streak, what has led to it, as well as a look ahead at both the Shockers and Memphis as they embark into those matchups firing on all cylinders on both ends of the court.
Kaleb Glenn has been a huge factor in the Owls recent win streak, as the Louisville transfer has taken an unselfish approach in coming off the bench and leading FAU in scoring. The 6’7 forward has scored in double figures in eight of his last 9 games and is averaging 12.8 points and 4.9 rebounds on the year.
Finding a player who is able to be okay with coming off the bench, while simultaneously leading their team in scoring is rare, however Glenn is doing exactly that. According to Jakus, all players have the want to start, but certain players who he has coached in the past have been able to excel in a 6th man role and Glenn is looking to be another one, in large part due to his ability to close.
“I didn’t know that Kaleb would be okay with that. I don’t know that you’re ever for sure okay with that. If you’re a competitor, somewhere inside, I’m sure he has feelings about wanting to start. It’s just a normal thing, but I’m going to steal, or at least acknowledge that we stole some of that culture from Scott Drew, Jeremy Sochan was Sixth Man of the Year at Baylor and was a lottery pick. Taurean Prince was Sixth Man of the Year. His junior year didn’t start till his senior year. He was a lottery pick. You could kind of go down the line and the number of six men of the Year awards that we had at Baylor and Scott’s had in his career. You’re always looking for seven or eight starters. You’re lucky. You get eight or nine, and then who finishes the game is what matters, and comes down to matchups. And so Kaleb’s response to that and then his ability to close games is what makes him so special. We had one play to draw up, and we drew it for Kaleb, and he delivered on that drive to his right hand. So we’re really thankful for him and really proud of him. And when we talk about culture stuff, just think it’s a buzz word nowadays. It doesn’t always mean as much as it should. It’s just something coaches, but when you look at Kaleb, I mean, what a great reflection of our locker room. I hope all the guys have the same attitude about rooting for others, knowing that any given night can be their night. So we’re really thankful for him,” Jakus said.
Defense has made a major improvement over the past 5 games for FAU and although Temple was able to hurt FAU at times, they bounced back over the final few minutes and limited the Philly Owls. The interior defense for FAU is currently top 25 in the nation, however the 3-point defense has been in the bottom 350s nearly all year, but both have been solid during the recent win streak.
John Jakus mentioned after the win against Tulsa that the teams overall communication has improved greatly and it made for improvement on both ends of the court, however against Temple what really made a difference was their ability to switch defensively 1 through 5, something Jakus notes has also improved.
“I think it’s slowly gotten better as we’ve gotten through the wins. But I thought to close the first half at Charlotte at home, we went point guards and Baba and Caleb and pushed everything. And I thought that gave Charlotte some frustration, it allowed us to go on a little run. Before half, they were playing so good, making so many threes, that lineup kind of helped us. And then out of desperation, in some regard, I thought Coach Fisher from Temple, he did a great job of picking on our fives and switches, and so we put Baba in that situation, almost pre switch, and have him guard the ball. So Leland gets a bunch of credit for the steal and the two layups, the plays that were made by the people around it, around Baba, who were awesome, but that switch where Baba ended up on the ball, I thought, really allowed us to go on an eight-zero run. So styles make fights. I think Ballard and Wichita State and Dainja and Cisse with Memphis are going to change how we have to play this week, but last week, with the Princeton offense and Temple switching was the right answer. So we’ll just keep adjusting week to week. But that lineup for last week was great,” Jakus said.
Next up for FAU will be Wichita State, who are also on a streak of their own, having won their last 4 games including over 1st-place Memphis. The Shockers have fallen back on what they were known for during their glory days in defense and rebounding and although their scoring isn’t up to par with what FAU has been putting out, they will still find a way to turn this game into a dog fight.
Jakus is very familiar with Wichita State Coach Paul Mills, with both having coached at Baylor together and Jakus believes that the Shockers have started believing which could make them a tough opponent.
“Yeah, Paul Mills is a great guy. He’s a Baylor guy. The only reason I have this job is because of the coaching tree. I admire him for leaving and taking the Oral Roberts job. I know it’s popular to stay at a high major job, stay on the private plane, but he took a risk and really delivered there. And he’s a heck of a coach. I thought Grant McCasland did the same thing. He went to Arkansas State, North Texas. They left comfort, and then they proved they could succeed. And I can’t tell you how highly I think of Paul. He’s a really good coach. And you know, we’re all just figuring out nowadays, portal and these rosters, and sometimes it takes till January to figure things out, but they seem to have figured it out right now. Great rebounding team, number one defensive rebounding team in our league, I believe. And then with the injury, they’ve had to go to Cortes instead of their original guy. And I think their ability to get the paint and shoot 75% of their shot as twos, I think them attacking the paint has been really good for them. So he’s probably adjusted his offense to pick on things. I know he’s watching us right now, and he’s finding out who he’s going to pick on. He’s like, almost like an NBA mine when it comes to who on the floor you can find to pick on. So we’re gonna have to cover each other up in that regard. But he’s doing a great job, and I think his kids have bought in, and they probably have a Kaleb Glenn themselves in Harlond Beverly. The way he’s accepted his role off the bench. It just speaks to the fact that when a team starts believing that all that matters is winning, it can change in college basketball quickly. And I think that’s done. That has happened for Wichita State in the last few weeks,” Jakus said.
After Wichita State, FAU will match up with Memphis for the second time this season, as they head to Memphis looking to avenge their AAC opening blowout loss. The Tigers will have a week off following their loss to Wichita State, which will make them well rested heading into their matchup with the Owls.
The Owls last matchup with Memphis didn’t go as planned, however Jakus believes his squad has improved across the board since then and he looks to show that this Sunday.
“I think we’ve improved in every area. I don’t think we were very good that night. I think that was the summation of our first 10 to 15 when we were away from home. You play Michigan State because of the way our schedule was set up. We didn’t have a warm up game before that. I think that’s a scheduling error. You want to go into the league, probably with an opponent at home right beforehand, so you can get up for a top 15 Memphis team. But between the scheduling that 15 day break and then that first day back against such a really good basketball team, we did not perform the way we ought to. So I think we’ve improved in every area. And as far as how we will beat Memphis, we’ll deal with that on Thursday night, at midnight, when our 9pm game is over. At 1130, I’ll stay up and start working, but I won’t get ahead of ourselves. I think we’re, let’s say we’re probably not as bad as 40 points less than Memphis at this point. But apart from that, I think we’ll just focus on Wichita State,” Jakus said.
As for the Seinfeld game on Thursday, Jakus has a deep connection to Seinfeld and has history with Boca Raton itself, so the game theme is something he is looking forward too.
“Seinfeld was my dad’s favorite show, and back in the day before, there was DVRs or YouTube TV, or the ability to like save shows, or just watch every show back to back to back on Netflix. Now you had to sit down on time and have dinner together and watch it. So our kids know nothing about that. They know only about streaming… but t’s a special thing. I mean, one of the reasons I wanted this job, we used to come down to Boca for vacation. I took the train or the bus to Wrigley Field and walked in with my dad to games, and I watched as a family, I think it was seven or eight o’clock on the dot every Thursday night, and it was just what you did. So my childhood was special. I’m only here. I said earlier because the Baylor coaching tree and the Gonzaga coaching tree, but I would also say because my family and my parents, they’ve done a bunch for me, and my dad’s at the top of that list, and it was his favorite show,” Jakus said.