FAU head Coach John Jakus met with the media on Monday afternoon, speaking on a variety of topics ahead of the Owls matchup with Charlotte on Wednesday. FAU is fresh off their first AAC win of the year, a thrilling road victory over ECU, a game that was a much needed bounce back following 2 tough matchups with Michigan State and Memphis.
A big part of FAU’s success in that game was the spark they received early on from Tre Carroll, who was inserted into the starting lineup for the first time this season and first time in his career. Carroll finished with 17 points and according to Jakus, the success that the team had as a whole was in large part due to Carroll and Vokietaitis each stepping into their roles without issue, however going forward he isn’t certain if the lineup changes remain in place.
“Yeah, we haven’t met about that yet. We practiced, lifted weights and walked through. We’ll do match ups and everything tonight. Then we’ll go on tomorrow with a fuller-scout, and then we’ll scout on the last day. We’ll do our walk through game day. So I can’t promise one way or another. You know, I told you all along. My main goal is that when both fives play well, we play well. And it’s certainly a good fit for Tre. I thought we started the Memphis game awful. I think we were down 14-2. We started this one up 15-2. And so we were just looking for the right matchup and the right energy and Tre brought that and Matas’ attitude about the whole thing was amazing,” Jakus said.
The Owls next matchup is Charlotte on Wednesday and they have remained in North Carolina following the win over ECU, making this the Owls second extended road trip in the Carolina’s this season. FAU will look to grab some momentum in their next game, as Charlotte has had an up and down start to their season and even on the road this game is winnable for the Owls.
Charlotte brings in former FAU Center Giancarlo Rosado, someone who was considering coming back to FAU before ultimately landing with a conference opponent and his veteran experience has been valuable for the 49ers this season. According to FAU Coach John Jakus, Rosado is someone that he would have loved to have on this FAU team, however even with his decision to leave Jakus holds a lot of respect for him.
“Yeah, G’s a good guy. I mean, I think just like we were talking about our own players, you win and you lose, and it shouldn’t affect relationships. I mean, I would have liked first more of the FAU guys to stay. They know what winning looks like. They obviously established a great culture. And I would have loved to marry Baylor and Gonzaga’s culture with that you guys that went on that run, but sometimes things don’t work out. But that doesn’t make anything dysfunctional or odd at all. I’m not going to change my opinion. He’s a good person. I loved getting to know him. He did great things for this school. I’m pretty sure he’s going to look for the ball at the elbow and either try to make him play for himself or somebody else. I don’t think that’s changed. And you know, he cares about family, he cares about the state of Florida, cares about his girlfriend, cares about those guys he played with, and he’s been incredibly kind to me. So I’ve got nothing but positive things to say,” Jakus said.
A big part of the Owls success against ECU was the diverse scoring that saw 8 players contribute 5 or more points, as the ball was spread around and it allowed everyone to gain confidence. FAU was 5 of 31 from beyond the arc against Memphis, however last game the Owls were 10 of 20 and less than 35% of their total points came from the interior, rather than the perimeter.
It was a much needed performance for the team as a whole, but specifically for guards Ken Evans Jr and Leland Walker who contributed 17 and 14 respectively, while Walker also finished with 5 rebounds and 7 assists. Jakus has known what his team has been capable of all season long and a game like this is an example of his guys doing the right things at the right time.
“Well, I hope they build on it going forward. That would be ideal. As far as the thing with Ken, I think that’s great, but people got wrapped up a little bit, and Ken probably because the last shot he made, and he hasn’t been hitting shots lately. And then they obviously got wrapped up with Tre, because Tre seems to be a fan favorite. People love to ask questions about that. I thought Leland’s double digits was just as important, and I thought that mid range pull up with under five on the shot clock from the elbow. Was really special. They were draped all over him. The contest was right there. He scored anyway, and he just kind of put his foot down and said, We’re not going to let this one get away. And, you know, I touched in the post break game press conference. I thought that 1030 time out in two and a half minutes to go, from up down six to try to get it back to a tie. So in the last eight minutes, we could just play them straight up, and Leland was wonderful in that huddle. So it wasn’t just the making shots, it was the other stuff. And we’ll KyKy Tandy threes anytime we can get them, and especially when a team goes zone. So I’m really happy for them, and I believe more growth is coming. I’ve been pretty steadfast on that. I’m not going to change my mind about people, and I’m not going to change my mind about talent. I’m going to stand by the guys, and I think more good things will come,” Jakus said.
Someone who also has been developing throughout this season is G Devin Vanterpool, who after red-shirting last season has begun to carve out a consistent role for this FAU team. Vanterpool has always had potential, as the son of NBA legend David Vanterpool was a highly touted recruit for previous Head Coach Dusty May and it is Jakus gets the pleasure of developing that potential.
So far on the season, Vanterpool has averaged 8 minutes a game across 12 appearances and although he hasn’t been stuffing the stat sheet, he has been one of the Owls best perimeter defenders this season. According to Jakus, the Sky is the limit for Vanterpool as he came in to college a year early and is now getting the reps under his belt that he needs to develop into his full potential.
“Yeah, I think Dev is in a great spot. I’m incredibly thankful he’s here, and then he stayed. Trey seems to get the accolade for staying, but I don’t think Jakel and Jack and dad get enough credit for staying, and there’s been some injuries with those three that have caused for to be ins and outs. Today is Jack’s birthday, so happy birthday to him. But Dev was basically supposed to be his high school senior last year, and he skipped that to come to cows here early. So Jack’s 22 and Dev was talking about how old he is. I mean, he’s basically a college freshman, if you do the math, and a real clock. So to get real, to get minutes as a freshman, and nowadays with COVID and all the transferring, everybody playing as old as they can. I know he probably wants more, all competitive people do, but we’re thrilled with him. I want him to be in the program long term. I think he’s going to be one of the best defensive guards in this league, if he sticks it through. And I think the offense is coming in a great summer. His player development was really good, and if he sticks with the process, I think he’ll get there so he’s a little bit like not to the Baylor guards is one thing. They kind of red shirted and got better. But if you just follow the path of like Alijah and Nick and those guys from freshman and sophomore and junior and how they improved, I can see the same if you’re just taking it from a fan perspective and not my own personal experience. I see the same trajectory for Dev, and I hope he sticks through it, because he’s a wonderful kid,” Jakus said.
Last game saw the Owls bounce back from a major defeat at the hands of Memphis and through 2 games FAU and Jakus have seen the polar extremes of AAC play, as usually most games go the way of ECU, in terms of being a closely contested battle, however occasionally they also go they way of the Memphis game. Jakus avidly watches AAC basketball, so nothing he saw in the first 2 games surprised him, rather everything he expected in terms of the toughness of the AAC was in full display.
“No, I don’t think we picked up anything. I think that road games are harder than you want them to be, and Memphis is probably more talented than people think. And I think Penny is doing a great job. I thought they pulled out a tight one the other night against North Texas. There’s a toughness to them and a toughness to PJ Haggerty. They seem to know where to go to get stops and buckets when it really matters. That’s something they can carry with them. I thought East Carolina is going through a downturn right now, but to start down 15 two and not give up, it just shows how hard it is going to be to win road games. I think the same thing be true at Charlotte. I watch as much American or AAC basketball as anybody in the country right now, to get familiar and you can see just what you said. You can see blow ups, you see tight games. You see road wins, but those are few and far between. So we’re gonna have to lock in and get a road win this week,” Jakus said.
The Owls will be off for a few days following the Charlotte matchup on Wednesday and they will be back at home on Sunday for a matchup with AAC preseason favorites, UAB. The Blazers have struggled this season, however Jakus isn’t ready to overlook them and is also hoping they will get a boost from the Student Section, returning to full force for the first time since before Thanksgiving.
“I thought we had a good crowd against Memphis without the students in session quite yet. And so I hope that it’ll be even better. It’ll be wonderful. We can somehow have a good showing on Wednesday that the fans would continue to show up. I think we go from a really good fan base to a really great one. When the students are there, the students are loud and there’s a rhythm to what they do, and whether it’s the flamingos or the swimmers or just something special about the Elly. So we wanted that as much of that in our life as we can get. And then, as far as Coach Kennedy, I think they had a rough one at North Texas. They should have won, if we’re being honest, Heartbreaker, which we’ve experienced a couple times this year, heartbreakers. And then they flipped it at Tulsa, I think one by 30. As far as the details of what they’re doing, I know they’ll go back and forth between man and zone, and I know he’s a really good coach who also coached Todd Abernathy and made a huge difference in his life. So him being a good guy and a good coach, that’s about as far as I’m into it at this point, because right now, just focus on Charlotte,” Jakus said.