It’s been a season of absolute carnage throughout the American Conference. Since League play began during New Year’s Weekend, theres been nothing short of a blood bath at the top of the Conference.
The Florida Atlantic Owls opened 2026 with a bang, going 6-1 during the first 22 days of American Conference basketball, before dropping 3 games over the last 10 days. It’s been an absolute gauntlet for the Owls, who have played a total of 11 hard fought games during a 32 day span without a true break.
During this stretch, the Owls have had to combat adversity more than just the normal ebbs and flows of a college basketball game, with numerous starters battling various illnesses and injuries. Both starting Guard Devin Vanterpool and Forward Devin Williams have had an unfortunate run in with flu-season, while another starting Guard Kanaan Carlyle has been dealing with a soft tissue calf injury, and reserve big man Maxime Logue has reported tendinitis in his foot (per HC John Jakus).
As the Owls prepare to face the now #1 seed Tulsa Golden Hurricane tomorrow night, Coach Jakus’ goal is to remind the team of the level of basketball they were playing while at full strength.
“When stuff like this happens, it causes you to lose your identity, which would be foolish of us, because a good version of us, a good identity is when we rebound and when we play defense- we win our games…” Coach John Jakus stated. “…You can say whatever you want, but they’re still 18-23 year old young men, and they need to be told that we believe in them, and there’s a path back to where we were.”
Coach Jakus would add onto his comment stating: “The truth is, the beginning of January was beautiful, the last end of January was poor, and we’re going to have to take responsibility….I have to take responsibility from my part of that. Some of it’s out of our control because of the health issues, but none of that means February can’t be beautiful.”
Regardless of their current standing personnel, the Florida Atlantic Owls are in the final preparation for their most important battle of the season, as the Owls get ready to brave the Golden Hurricanes of Tulsa.
Coming out of this storm victorious would be a massive momentum swing for FAU as the Owls could head into their much needed bye week with a win and an opportunity to regroup and rejuvenate before their highly anticipated push for an American Conference Championship.
