FAU made the Final Four as a surprise last season. The No. 10 Owls aren’t a surprise anymore
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Practices at Florida Atlantic are basically two hours of Dusty May being in constant motion. Up and down the sideline. Across the court. Back the other way. A few seconds here, a few seconds there. A few words here, a few words there. The day’s practice plan is in one hand, sometimes a pen is in the other.
When a play goes right, there’s a big fist pump.
When it doesn’t, there’s a quick correction and an encouraging word.
This is not a new approach for May, the 46-year-old coach entering his sixth season with FAU. Making the Final Four last spring didn’t change much about the way he coaches or the way FAU will practice. While the outside expectations have soared — the Owls are No. 10 in the season-opening AP Top 25 — the way FAU goes about its work remains unchanged.
“Everything changes over time and life has changed for all of us drastically,” May said. “With everything that came with our run, life is different for all of us. So, we have to come back to the core of it — and that’s how much we love to compete, how much we love to play ball with each other and how we do it together. We just have to constantly remind ourselves of that.”
The Owls have all five starters – and all but one player, who graduated – back from the team that went 35-4 and became the story of college basketball last spring by getting to the Final Four as a No. 9 seed. San Diego State beat FAU in the semifinals 72-71 on a jumper as time expired, denying the Owls a chance to play for the NCAA title even after they led for every single second of the second half. The clock actually went to 0.0 as Lamont Butler’s shot from the right wing was in the air.
FAU led San Diego State by 14 points with just under 14 minutes to go.
“I still think about that San Diego State game. We know we’ll never forget that game,” FAU forward Giancarlo Rosado said. “I think about a team that did us to us. What we do really well, they did to us to win the game. They outworked us. Great program, great coach over there, but we got outworked — and we usually do the outworking.”
And so, this preseason has been back-to-work for the Owls. They will surprise no one this year; they ended up in the Final Four last season after not even being picked as one of the best four teams in Conference USA — FAU was actually fifth in that league’s preseason poll a year ago.
Now, FAU is in the American Athletic Conference, with non-conference games against past NCAA tournament darlings — Florida Gulf Coast, Loyola Chicago and Butler among them — along with trips to Las Vegas to face Arizona, the Basketball Hall of Fame to face St. Bonaventure and back to Madison Square Garden, where the Owls won their regional last spring, to face Illinois.
“We did something that few others have done,” FAU guard Alijah Martin said. “We’re a mid-major, or whatever you want to call it, and we went to the Final Four. And now this is the year that we can make FAU a powerhouse, a basketball powerhouse. Nobody has seen this in Boca Raton. But this program is good, and we’re still building.”
If there’s one drawback to making the Final Four, it’s this: May has had to drive to work more often.
In past seasons, he’s often been able to strap on his backpack, put in his AirPods and hop aboard his road bicycle to pedal to work. That hasn’t happened so much this year; the demands of the job have meant getting in earlier or staying later, and his bike doesn’t have lights.
It’s a small price to pay for what FAU has done — and what it thinks it can do this season.
“Last year, we felt like we were underrated, undervalued, and so we played with a chip on our shoulder to earn that respect,” May said. “Now, the issue is going to be living up to the expectations and standards that we set last season. And our goal is to do it again.”
POLL NOTES
FAU is making its first appearance in the AP Top 25 preseason poll. At No. 10, FAU has never been higher; the Owls reached No. 19 last season. The Owls are one of 17 teams to open the season in this year’s AP Top 25 after also being ranked in the final AP poll last season.
WHEN IT COUNTS
Here’s what set FAU apart last season — the ability to win close games. The Owls were 16-3 in games decided by less than 10 points. That was the best record in Division I.
PRESEASON EXPECTATION
FAU is the preseason favorite in the AAC, getting 11 of 14 first-place votes. Memphis is the No. 2 pick and got the other three votes. Martin and fellow FAU guard Johnell Davis shared the AAC preseason player of the year award.
FROM THE START
FAU had 29 leads at halftime last season, tied for third-most in Division I. Only national champion UConn (32) and Houston (31) had more.
THE SCHEDULE
FAU opens Nov. 8 in Chicago against Loyola Chicago. The Owls will face two other teams that are opening the year in the AP Top 25; No. 25 Illinois in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 5, and No. 12 Arizona at Las Vegas on Dec. 23.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll