The next chapter of FAU men’s basketball will start in Xenia, Ohio, as the Owls will tip-off their season November 4th against Indiana State in a neutral site matchup from the brand new Wooden family field house, per Rocco Miller.
This will be the second straight year FAU will open their season with a neutral site matchup against a mid-major opponent, as last year the Owls defeated Loyola Chicago in the Barstool Invitational to open the year. Indiana State this year will provide FAU the unique opportunity to have a Head-to-head decision against a mid-major opponent who will also be contending for an at-large bid.
It will be the first time the schools matchup in Men’s Basketball and it will mark the beginning of both the John Jakus era at FAU and Matthew Graves era at ISU following the departure of former ISU coach & FAU Alumni Josh Schertz to St. Louis this offseason.
St.Louis, like FAU, had to rebuild their roster following the departure of their head coach, losing Robbie Avila and Isaiah Swope with him and also losing Jayson Kent, Julian Larry, Ryan Conwell, Mason Miller and Augustanas Kiudulas, leaving them with only 3 players from last year’s cinderella-esque squad. Graves has re-tooled mainly through the portal, landing a strong class headlined by Jahni Summers a top Juco G from Kansas who averaged 18.2 PPG as a freshman at Coffeyville CC, Markus Harding a 6’10 transfer from Central Michigan, who averaged 10.2 PPG and 5.6 Rebounds, and G Samage Teel, a transfer from Presbyterian who averaged 13.6 PPG on 41% shooting from 3.
This matchup will be the first collegiate basketball game ever from John Wooden Family field house, which opened on June 15th and will most likely be played at the facilities championship court, which has seating for 1200 people. Owned and operated by faith based organization Athletes In Action, the field house also features a sports performance and fitness area along with an athletic training space.
Heading into the first year under John Jakus and a relatively new roster, the Owls come into the season with a lot of unknowns, so to schedule aggressively would be a gamble considering the newness of the squad. Rocco Miller a CBB scheduling expert from Bracketeer.Org believes that although the non-conference schedule may not be as loaded as last season, the Owls are still setting themselves up nicely with the matchups they have so far.
“Except for Tre Carroll, FAU has a brand new team and head coach heading into 2024-25. So of course the schedule will not be quite as aggressive as last year. However, I like the amount of tests the Owls have lined up. The five games in Charleston (3 in Classic, two for Field of 68 Classic) will all be a challenge. The opener with Indiana State is a manageable, yet quality game. Playing at UCF on the road will be a bonus opportunity against a talented Big 12 program and a preview for what it will be like going to tough AAC environments. The FIU rivalry is good regionally to maintain. All and all, if the Owls play well they will win a lot of these games on neutral courts and begin building a resume,” Miller said in a statement to FAU Owls Nest.
FAU’s non-conference schedule is slowly filling itself up, now with only 2 open slots remaining and Miller believes that this matchup fills a much needed road game slot, as the Owls can make up for the slight lack of strength in their schedule by winning away from home.
“The Charleston Classic has a good chunk of Power 5 teams, but many are rebuilding and are not daunting. For the 2025 NCAA’s the Owls need to stockpile wins away from home, and this is a manageable way to have a chance at it,” Miller said.
FAU will look to fill their final non-conference slots over the next couple of weeks, but the Owls officially know now that their 2024-2025 season begins in Ohio on November 4th, which will officially tip off the John Jakus era.
