Exclusive: FAU coach John Jakus reveals unfortunate ‘anomaly’ that needs fixing in Year 2

John Jakus enjoyed having some success in his first season as a head coach with the Florida Atlantic Owls. However, there are areas that he looks to improve significantly going into his second year.

Jakus began his head coaching journey at FAU after being a director of basketball operations at Gonzaga for three years (2014-17) as well as a graduate assistant and assistant coach at Baylor for nine years (2012-14, 17-24). He achieved historic success at both programs, helping Baylor win the national championship in 2021.

Jakus embraced the biggest chapter of his coaching career at Boca Raton, knowing the memorable achievements the Owls accomplished with Dusty May. They were coming off of six consecutive winning seasons and two NCAA Tournament appearances, including an incredible run to the Final Four in 2023. May departed for the Michigan Wolverines in 2024, leaving the door open for Jakus to take in the reins as the team's new head coach.

Going into the upcoming season, Jakus was proud to have that first year under his belt. He noted that he and the coaching staff are optimistic as they look to build on the progress they made last season by bringing the program back into NCAA Tournament contention.

“Overall, I think we're right where we want to be. We're not at the place where we're sick of playing each other in practice yet. We're getting stuff out of practice that'll come pretty quick here when we'll get sick of playing against each other,” Jakus said in an exclusive interview with ClutchPoints. “We get the guys longer than we've ever gotten them, the summer workouts and all that. You can get to the point where you burn each other out too soon. I think we're fresh and happy. Everybody's in a great mood.”

One area that Jakus will look to see major growth in is the 3-point shooting area on both sides of the ball. FAU ranked 105th in 3-point shooting accuracy at 35.2%, including 70th in average number of 3-pointers made with 8.7 per game, but had the 19th-worst perimeter defense at 37%. This emphasized the need for Jakus to make big adjustments in that aspect of the game.

“The shooting thing is almost an anomaly. I don't know that we've ever created that many uncontested threes or layups and not produced more. The best you can do is be open from three or get to the rim. I mean, I think we were 26th in synergy and shot creation as far as what should have been offense. So when you compare, like we got 19 uncontested threes and missed against Memphis, you can't do better than getting open shots. We're going to have to see what these guys do when they shoot with the lights on,” he said.

“There were times like some somebody who would never make a three, and they make four against us. Not only did we only change our defense; we changed the defense to demand defense. We've now changed our closeout rules. And then we've addressed a couple of things, but the change of defense and the change in closeout rules and the way we help is different this year, but at the end of the day, personnels and concepts have to match and equal performance, so we'll find out if our personnel matches the adjustments.”

What changed for John Jakus, FAU this past offseason

FAU had promise in its first season with John Jakus at the helm. The program finished with an 18-16 record, including a decent 10-8 display in American Conference play. They reached the quarterfinals of the conference tournament before losing to Tulane and later earned a spot in the 2025 National Invitational Tournament. However, their season came to an end on their own home court after losing to Dayton in the first round.

The Owls boasted multiple players that can score in double-digits, seeing the team rank as the 60th-best offense in the country with 78.7 points per game. Kaleb Glenn, Tre Carroll, Baba Miller, and Matas Vokietaitis stood out from the attack, having many moments as key contributors in Jakus' style of play. FAU also ranked 281st in the nation in scoring defense with 75.6 points allowed per game, 97th in rebounds per game, and 36th in assists per game.

This season will be quite different for Jakus and the Owls. Most of last year's roster is gone due to them transferring out or maxing out their remaining eligibility. Glenn went to Michigan State, Carroll departed for Xavier, Miller took his talents to Cincinnati, and Vokietaitis left for Texas. 10 players in total exited the team this past offseason.

Jakus got quite busy in the summer, replacing all 10 with four players from the transfer portal and six recruits at the high school and international levels. One of the biggest additions was Josiah Parker, who has high expectations as he obtained Preseason Freshman of the Year honors from the American Conference. They also landed Isaiah Elohim from USC, Devin Williams from UCLA, and Kanaan Carlyle from Indiana, players who will look to make big impacts this year.

Only five players from last season remained with the team: Niccolo Moretti, Devin Vanterpool, Max Langenfeld, Amar Amkou, and Liam Dayco-Green. Moretti and Vanterpool garnered significant playing time on the court throughout the 2024-25 campaign, on pace to have expanded roles in the squad's success this year.

“Nico [Moretti] was part of some of the finest moments we had last year, like you can think back to the East Carolina game at home and his beautiful basketball. So that, I think, is just right where it needs to be. The improvement defensively, Nico's taking that personally, and we've really kind of gone after him that he just wasn't good enough defensively last year. And I think he's made strides,” Jakus said about Moretti.

“Devin [Vanterpool] is a great defender. One of the reasons we kept putting him in down the stretch over the older guards is because he just played harder than them. The difference is he's got to play harder without fouling. As we count on him for more minutes, he's got to keep his hands to himself so he can stay in the game…Both have improved defensively. One, I think, is a staple of our toughness and strength program. The other is a staple of our beautiful offense, but when they hold the guys accountable to being great on defense, that's when we'll separate.”

What lies ahead for John Jakus, FAU in upcoming schedule

John Jakus' first season with the Owls wasn't easy as he looked to keep the program stable as a solid contender for postseason tournaments.

The Owls had the 103rd-strongest schedule in the 2024-25 campaign, per KenPom. It featured three matchups against opponents ranked in the AP Top 25, including Michigan State and Memphis (twice). In terms of net rating going into this year, the team ranks 145th in the country.

FAU's non-conference schedule for this upcoming season will provide similar but still challenging matchups. They will face Boston College, Charleston, St. Bonaventure, Saint Mary's, and UCF, among other contests, before 2025 comes to a close and 2026 rolls around.

“The deal is that we have to take a risk. You have to be willing to say, ‘We got to get the home one and then see what happens on the road.' If we don't, it's going to go bad for us, but you have to be courageous enough to put yourself out there, and then the other teams got to do the same in return, like the fact that Boston College did this for themselves and for us, I'm incredibly thankful for it,” Jakus told ClutchPoints.

“The rhythm this year is actually just better. It's what the rhythm of a college schedule should be. And so hopefully that rhythm helps these guys emotionally, but we're still going to have to perform. It doesn't guarantee wins, but it's the wiser way to schedule, and it's also a better way for the fans, because instead of taking four weeks away from a home game, and nobody's seeing us pretty consistently, we're gonna get to be playing in front of our home crowd.”

FAU will begin its season at home. They host their second-ever Power Five matchup, taking on the Boston College Eagles on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. ET. After that, they will take part in the annual Field of 68 events, facing Charleston on Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. ET and Liberty on Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. ET.