2022–23 Florida Atlantic Owls men's basketball team explained

Mode:Basketball
Year:2022–23
Prev Year:2021–22
Next Year:2023–24
Team:Florida Atlantic Owls
Conference:Conference USA
Short Conf:C-USA
Coachrank:5
Aprank:25
Record:35–4
Conf Record:18–2
Hc Year:5th
Asst Coach1:Kyle Church
Asst Coach2:Todd Abernethy
Asst Coach3:Drew Williamson
Champion:Conference USA regular season and tournament champions
Paradise Invitational champions
Tourney Result:Final Four

The 2022–23 Florida Atlantic Owls men's basketball team represented Florida Atlantic University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Owls were led by fifth-year head coach Dusty May and played their home games at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena in Boca Raton, Florida as members of Conference USA. The Owls finished the season 35–4, 18–2 in C-USA play to win the regular season championship. They defeated Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, and UAB to win the C-USA tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 9 seed in the East region. They defeated Memphis in the first round which marked the school's first NCAA tournament win. They then defeated Fairleigh Dickinson to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. The Owls defeated Tennessee and Kansas State to advance to the school's first Final Four. This made FAU the first men's team since George Mason in 2006 to reach the Final Four in the same season that it earned its first NCAA tournament win.[1] In the Final Four, they lost to San Diego State.

On January 16, 2023, the Owls were ranked in the AP poll for the first time in program history.[2] [3]

On October 21, 2021, Florida Atlantic accepted an invitation to join the American Athletic Conference[4] and became a full-member on July 1, 2023.[5] As a result, this season was the program's last as a member of Conference USA.[6]

Previous season

The Owls finished the 2021-22 season 19–15, 11–7 in C-USA play to finish in third place in the East Division. They defeated Southern Miss in the second round of the C-USA tournament before losing to UAB in the quarterfinals. The Owls received an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational, where they lost to Northern Colorado in the first round.

Offseason

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Madiaw Niang 1 F 6'9" 230 Senior Graduate transferred to Radford
Everett Winchester 2 G 6'6" 212 GS Senior Graduated
Bogdan Zimojic 5 G 6'5" 190 Freshman Transferred to Tennessee Tech
Kenan Blackshear 13 G 6'6" 215 Sophomore Transferred to Nevada
Bitumba Baruti 20 F 6'7" 220 GS Senior Graduated
Brant Ulmer 32 F 6'7" 201 Junior Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons
Dardan Kapiti 35 F 6'10" 213 Junior Transferred to Eastern Kentucky

Incoming transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Isaiah Gaines 5 F 6'7" 225 Sophomore Northwest Mississippi CC
Jalen Gaffney 12 G 6'3" 180 Junior UConn

Recruiting class

Schedule and results

|-!colspan=12 style=|Regular season

|-!colspan=9 style=| Conference USA tournament|-!colspan=9 style=}| NCAA tournament

Source[7]

Rankings

See also: 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings. *AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings.

Notes and References

  1. News: Florida Atlantic stuns Kansas State to advance to school's first Final Four . Jacob . Lev . CNN . March 25, 2023 . March 27, 2023.
  2. Web site: Men's Basketball Ranked No. 24 in AP Poll, Earns First Ranking in School History. FAUSports.com. January 16, 2023 .
  3. Web site: College basketball rankings: UCLA joins top five of AP Top 25, FAU in poll for first time in school history . 2023-01-20 . CBSSports.com . January 16, 2023 . en.
  4. Web site: FAU Accepts Invite to The American. FAUSports.com. October 21, 2021.
  5. Web site: 2023-07-01 . Owls officially become members of American Athletic Conference . 2023-09-22 . WPTV News Channel 5 West Palm . en.
  6. Web site: FAU's American Move Officially Set for 2023 . FAUSports.com . June 10, 2022.
  7. News: Mens Basketball Schedule 2022–2023. en. Florida Atlantic University Athletics. October 9, 2022.