WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Florida Atlantic University is in the Final Four for the first time in school history. Here are five things to know about the Owls before Saturday night's tipoff against San Diego State in Houston.
'Beach Boys' Greatest Hits
With apologies to the California crooners, these "Beach Boys" are much more exciting. So how did the FAU men's basketball team earn that nickname?
It started in January when Western Kentucky interim head coach Phil Cunningham claimed that FAU's players have "got that beach mentality" (the campus is less than 2 miles from the beach) and play "loose and free."
FAU head coach Dusty May said some of his players felt slighted by the reference, but it's served the Owls well during their Final Four run.
"Just call us Beach Boys, you know, because we're going to come out and show you how it's done," FAU guard Alijah Martin said.
God only knows what's next.
Young Success
The fact that the Owls are even playing in the Final Four is an impressive feat for a relatively young university that didn't even have a basketball team until the 1980s.
FAU's men's basketball program began play in 1988 and spent its first five seasons as a Division II program before moving up to Division I in 1993.
The Owls have been a part of three different conferences through the decades – initially with the Atlantic Sun Conference, then the Sun Belt Conference and, currently, Conference USA.
That will change come July. Next season it's on to the American Athletic Conference.
Setting Records
No matter what happens in Houston, the Owls have already made history.
FAU's 20-game winning streak this season was a school record and the longest of any team in the nation.
The Owls were ranked in the Associated Press top 25 poll for the first time in school history.
Not only did they set the school record for total victories in a season, but the team's 35-3 record is also the nation's best.
The Owls hadn't won a national postseason tournament game in program history before this year. Now the C-USA champions are two wins away from their first national championship in any sport.
May Madness
Dusty May has quickly made a name for himself at FAU.
Hired in 2018 as an unproven head coach, May was a stark contrast to his predecessors, many of whom were big names from the major college and NBA ranks, Matt Doherty (former head coach at North Carolina) and Michael Curry (former head coach of the Detroit Pistons) among them.
May's teams have never had a losing season.
In just five seasons, May already has more wins than any other coach in program history.
His 101 wins are 25 more than the next-best coach, Mike Jarvis, who went 76-112 in six seasons at FAU.
The reward for FAU's success is a contract extension that should keep May from leaving for another job.
Assorted Roster
May assembled his roster with players from near and far.
Three FAU players went to high school in South Florida – Giancarlo Rosado (Palm Beach Lakes Community High School in West Palm Beach), Michael Forrest (Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach) and Alejandro Ralat (St. Andrew's School in Boca Raton).
Four more Owls hail from the Sunshine State – Brenen Lorient (Ocala), Bryan Greenlee (Gainesville), Isaiah Gaines (Pensacola) and Tre Carrol (Punta Gorda).
In typical Boca Raton fashion, the New York tri-state area is represented with three players on the roster – Nick Boyd (Garnerville, New York), Jalen Gaffney (Columbus, New Jersey) and Jack Johnson (White Plains, New York).
Alijah Martin and Brandon Weatherspoon both played high school basketball in Mississippi, while Leo Beath is the farthest from his home in Malibu, California.
Vladislav Goldin is the lone international player. He is from Russia but moved to Connecticut to play high school basketball. He began his college career at Texas Tech before transferring to FAU in 2021.
