Florida Atlantic is hiring Baylor associate head coach John Jakus as the Owls’ basketball coach, the school announced Wednesday.
“We are thrilled to welcome John and his family to the Florida Atlantic family,” FAU president Stacy Volnick said in a statement. “This is a tremendous time for the men’s basketball team and I have every confidence John will continue this program’s phenomenal trajectory.”
He will replace Dusty May, who was recently hired by Michigan on a five-year contract after six seasons at FAU. May led the Owls to the program’s first Final Four in 2023.
This year’s team, which featured every eligible player from the previous year’s Final Four squad, went 25-9 and reached as high as No. 7 in the AP Top 25. But the Owls were knocked out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, losing to No. 9 seed Northwestern 77-65 in overtime.
Jakus returned to Baylor’s staff in 2017 as an assistant after three seasons as Gonzaga’s director of operations. He was a graduate assistant with the Bears during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons. Jakus was part of Scott Drew’s staff at Baylor that won the national title in 2021 and Big 12 regular-season championships in 2021 and 2022.
“This is such a special moment for me, my wife Sara, and my children Brady, Cal, and Harper,” Jakus said in a statement. “I’m both honored and humbled to be the head coach at Florida Atlantic University. … This program has been in such great hands, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for what Dusty May, his staff, and the players have accomplished. FAU has been one of the best teams in the nation the last two years and I am so fortunate to carry on that tradition.”
What the Owls are getting in Jakus
Florida Atlantic athletic director Brian White has already proven he has a knack for hiring great basketball coaches, and he’s made another great hire in Jakus. Jakus has played a huge role in Baylor’s offensive success the last few seasons and has also mentored the program’s guards. Baylor has had a top-10 offense each of the last four seasons.
Much like May, he has an ability to connect with players and form strong relationships. Baylor has been exceptional in pick-and-roll basketball, and Jakus deserves a lot of credit for teaching Baylor’s guards the reads. FAU has landed another coach who knows how to run a space-and-pace attack. And they get someone who has learned from the very best in the sport about how to build a program, as Jakus worked under both Mark Few and Drew. — CJ Moore, college basketball staff writer
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(Photo: Chris Jones / USA Today)
