FAU Basketball: The women and men open up their season tonight with high aspirations

With the basketball seasons for both FAU men’s and women’s teams getting started tomorrow in their openers, there are high expectations for both squads.

Each of the head coaches, Dusty May and Jennifer Sullivan conducted their press conferences Tuesday afternoon to discuss the progress of their respective teams and where everything is at before tipoff.

Women’s

It’ll be Sullivan’s first year as head coach for the Owls, but her coaching career spans 16 years with her last stint being an assistant coach for the Tennessee Volunteers. She was there for two years under head coach Kellie Harper.

Sullivan talks about what she has learned from Harper and her time in Tennessee:

“A lot and it kind of changes every week. I think as a head coach, your responsibility is to give the type of tone to your players as needed for the moment, sometimes you really have to get after them. So you’re trying to figure out that balance what this team needs for me throughout the game and doing things accordingly and so that’s something I learned from Kelly. I thought she did a great job of that. You know, it would be a very frantic situation and at the timeout, she takes a deep breath and tells the girls to do the same and let’s go out and win the game. So I try to give our players.”

She also talks about how the practice has been going and reflects on FAU and their 75-60 exhibition win over Saint Leo:

“Practice has been great! It was really good to have an exhibition game to put our uniforms on in front of the big lights. For not only for our girls to get some of those jitters out, but our staff to see them because I do think they play a little bit different when they are in front of a crowd. That was the first time for our staff to do that,” said coach Sullivan. “I thought this week at practice was great and I think the girls are really excited. I thought there was a lot of things we gained from the exhibition that we can take into our first real game tomorrow night. So we are really encouraged as a staff.”

The first-year coach will take over after former head coach Jim Jabir left to return to the Siena Saints women’s team in New York. Sullivan will look to improve off of a 11-11 record from last season. The biggest loss from last year will be Iggy Allen as FAU will look to replace her averages of 22.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 2.2 steals per game. 

Senior Amber Gatson has been mentioned as a player to possibly take that load, but Sullivan credits a bunch of players on this team as getting expanded roles. In their exhibition win against Saint Leo, four players scored double-digit points with those being Gatson (17), Rita Pleskevich (16), Alexa Zaph (15), and Janeta Rozentale (11). Three players recorded double-digit players: Gatson (11), Rozentale (10), and Sofia Galeron (10).

While it’s only an exhibition game, Sullivan talks about the strengths of this team and even the weaknesses she saw in a victory:

“I think we have some really high IQ players, we put in a whole new system and they picked up on it pretty fast. I think that on the perimeter, we’re a pretty good-sized team, that’s exciting. You know, where we’re lacking is height inside, so we have to kind of workaround that but I think from the two to four positions, we’ve got some good long athletes that can make plays and shoot the ball. We didn’t shoot the ball great against [Saint] Leo (35%), but I think we can shoot a lot better. So if our shots are falling, I think that’ll be a big plus f\or us. The biggest thing is again, just putting together positive possessions, getting us going offensively and then going to get a stop on the other end, which takes all five people on the same page doing their job so I think all that’ll get better with time. Like I said, lots to build on, but I think you can’t really hope for a better position to be in at this point in the season.”

The starting lineup against Saint Leo was Gatson, Zaph, Rozentale, Pleskevich, and junior guard Kynadi Kuykendoll. Expect the same against their season opener opponent, Palm Beach Atlantic. 

The wait is OVER! Our 1st official game of the season tips tonight at home @ 6pm! And today we officially add 4 special young ladies to our family❤️! pic.twitter.com/c1i9VP8CJP

— Jennifer Sullivan (@coachsully10) November 10, 2021

As Palm Beach Atlantic will be viewed as an easy win to many people, Sullivan wants to make sure her players don’t lose focus or look ahead.

“Our players are going to show up and I don’t think I’ll have to preach a lot of effort. Obviously I think when you play any school in the state, there is a different level… I fully expect Palm Beach [Atlantic] to show up and make a statement. I think the kids are ready for that.” 

Sullivan talks about what she’s seen from Palm Beach Atlantic ahead of their 6 p.m. opening tip in Boca Raton.

“I thought one of the glaring things we struggled with going into our exhibition game was defending one on one and Palm Beach has a lot of pretty athletic players that do a good job off the dribble. So that we emphasize a lot this week is just doing a good job of containing our man without battling and being able to guard one on one so I think having Palm Beach right after Saint Leo and that struggle is gonna be really good for us. So we can work on that and get better.”

Men’s 

Head coach Dusty May enters his fourth season and from his media availability and the atmosphere around the team, this could be the best team in the May era. 

The Owls are looking to improve off of a 13-10 record and 7-5 in the conference. Last season, they beat UTSA in the first round of the Conference USA tournament, but then was bounced out by Louisiana Tech. 

FAU will open their season tonight on the road against New Mexico after beating Lynn University in their own exhibition game, 69-54. However, according to May, while they came out with a victory, he saw some glaring issues. 

“Yeah, we made a lot of mistakes versus Lynn and we experimented with some different things that we don’t normally do. Because we wanted to use it as an exhibition and try some things and not the final score being the ultimate goal. But yeah, we didn’t feel like we played very well. In all honesty, you look down our roster and I think Giancarlo Rosado, we were very pleased with as a staff, on the offensive end, but other than that, we weren’t happy with the way we played. And if you asked me if the other 10 or 11 guys played up to their potential, I would say no, that none of them did and we still found a way to beat a very good Lynn program. And we got in front of fans with a scoreboard with our uniforms on and tried to get out though that first game jitters in an exhibition setting.”

Just as the women’s roster with Iggy Allen, the men’s roster is no different in trying to replace production from Jailyn Ingram and Karlis Silins. Ingram was very efficient in his FAU career as he’s the sixth-highest all-time scorer in the program. He has since transferred to the University of Georgia. 

May has attributed players like guards Michael Forrest and Bryan Greenlee as people that could be go-to options for scoring. Forrest last season led FAU men’s team in points per game with 12.5 and is expected to play at shooting guard. 

Greenlee has suffered from an injury that, according to May, will be a game-time decision against New Mexico. However, May was quick to say how the rotation will be as Alijah Martin will start in his place. 

And we're back!

🏀 at New Mexico
🕘 9 PM ET
📍 Albuquerque, NM
📺 Mountain West Network
📻 @FoxSports640 pic.twitter.com/JT0QxeyEOb

— Florida Atlantic Men's Basketball (@FAUMBB) November 10, 2021

When asked May if he sees depth as a strength for FAU, he agreed, but explained how it could be a curse.

“It’s a positive and a negative because we have such great parity, top to bottom. And I think it’s easier when you have a hierarchy of guys who are going to play, know when they’re going to play, how much they’re going to play. We’re still going to try to figure out our rotation earlier. Brandon Weatherspoon is back from concussion protocol. So as a shooter, a good defender and another guard, we welcome him back with open arms with the BJ [Greenlee] situation but we have enough guys and it’s next man up mentality, but without a doubt it’s a blessing and a curse, to have so many players that are all about the same.”

Against Lynn, May had these players in the starting lineup: Martin (usually Greenlee), Forrest, Everett Winchester, Bitumba Baruti, and Vladislav Goldin. If Greenlee stays out, expect the same lineup against New Mexico. 

Besides May calling the weather in New Mexico nice, saying it’s been chilly, he also scouts the team himself and points out what the team is looking out for.

“Well, it begins with their guard play. Jaelen House is a very talented guard who was productive at Arizona State in the Pac 12 with some high volume scorers and shooters playing alongside him. And then they have Jamal Mashburn Jr. that went to Minnesota and was a contributor on a Big 10 team there. And then they have  KJ Jenkins that will be as good of a shooter as we see this year. Upfront, they’re long, athletic, and deep. They’re not super experienced upfront, but if they hold it together and stay the course this could end up being a very good basketball team by the end of the year.”

The FAU basketball season starts with the women opening at home at 6 p.m. against Palm Beach Atlantic and the men starting off the road against New Mexico at 9 p.m. eastern.

Photo courtesy of FAU Athletics.