Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Inside Owl Basketball: New Conference. New Era.

The next adventure starts now. 

Hot off a 2022-2023 Final Four appearance, the FAU Men’s Basketball team opens the season on the road at the Barstool Invitational on Wednesday, Nov. 8 against Loyola Chicago. 

Florida Atlantic returns to Boca Raton for the first home game of the season on Tuesday, Nov. 14 against Eastern Michigan on the Abessinio Court at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena at 7 p.m. 

Head Coach Dusty May considers this new season a mountain trek.

“We have another mountain to climb. There’s going to be a whole new set of issues and challenges, and so we have to block out last year, learn from what we did well,” said May. 

“We just have to stay the course and try to reinvent ourselves now. But last year definitely changed everything and we have to make sure that it doesn’t change who we are as people and to the core, that the same day to day approach is what ultimately is going to get us there again,” added May.

FAU Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dusty May and Paige Kornblue on The Paige Kornblue Show

Dusty May led Florida Atlantic to what is, no question, its greatest season in school history in the 2022-23 campaign, which include a Final Four appearance and a program best 35-4 record. 

“Our guys, the staff and the players have put so much time into this game trying to perfect our craft… playing it, talking about it, studying it, and for all of it to come to that point where you’re doing something that’s literally—it can transcend generations. I heard Charles Barkley say on CBS that this might be the greatest story in the history of our sport, meaning college basketball. And I paused for a second and thought about it and thought, if we’re in the top 1,000 stories in the history of our sport then I’m very grateful to be a part of it,” said May.

May holds titles including CBS Sports National Coach of the Year, NABC All-District 17 Coach of the Year, Conference USA Coach of the Year and Palm Beach County Coach of the Year. The team was rewarded with their first appearance in an AP Top 25 preseason poll this year earning a No. 10 ranking earlier this month.

FAU Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dusty May, photo courtesy of FAU Athletics

As the Owls get to work in their new American Athletic Conference, we had the opportunity to dive into the huddle with Coach May in both the September/October issue of the Boca magazine with Randy Schultz’ Boca Interview with Coach Dusty May and on Episode 62 of The Paige Kornblue Show, two inspiring one-on-one interviews with May to discuss the team’s incredible Final Four run, Cinderella story season, the emotions, standout moments, and lessons learned along the way, plus May’s thoughts on NIL, fatherhood and the season ahead. 

Season tickets are sold out. Contact 1-866-FAU-OWLS for event and single ticket information and stay up to date on all things FAU men’s basketball by following the Owls on Instagram at @FAUMBB.

Follow The Paige Kornblue Show and Blog at PaigeKornblue.com and @PaigeKornblueMedia for Community, News, Sports, Travel and more!

Paige Kornblue
Paige Kornbluehttp://www.PaigeKornblue.com
Paige Kornblue is an award-winning journalist who founded Paige Kornblue Media and The Paige Kornblue Show highlighting everything from interesting people, fascinating places to the gems that make our communities special. In addition to The Paige Kornblue Show podcast and Boca Magazine, Paige is a TODAY Show Parenting Team Contributor. She has anchored and reported for top-rated television stations across the country including WPTV NBC NewsChannel 5 and WMUR ABC News 9. Paige has also worked at NBC Sports and Dateline NBC and provided live reports for CNN and The Weather Channel. Some of her most memorable stories include exclusive interviews with President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Senator John McCain, Barbara Walters, Emmitt Smith, Desmond Howard, Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert. PK is a proud Boca Raton native who grew up loving Boca Magazine and all that comes with the fabulous city of Boca Raton! You can often find her on stage assisting charities as event emcee and moderator, on the courts working to improve her tennis game and on momma time enjoying each moment with her three young kiddos!

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