FAU Owls 2026-27 Offseason Review: Year Three for John Jakus
FAU lost nearly their entire roster but retained Kanaan Carlyle. Here's a full breakdown of every addition and expectation for the 2026-2027 Owls roster.
The Florida Atlantic Owls are entering year three with John Jakus at the helm following Dusty May’s departure to Michigan. Both seasons have produced nearly identical results as they finished 18-16 and 116th overall in KenPom in year one, then 18-15 and 126th overall in KenPom this past season.
The Owls started off hot at 14-6 overall and 6-1 in the American before dropping six games in a row, including some nailbiters. During that stretch, they fell to East Carolina by one, Tulsa by two, and South Florida by two in a thrilling overtime game. In total, they lost a whopping eight games by five points or less, highlighting that just a few of those tipping the right direction could have yielded strong results for the Owls last year.
Now, in year three Jakus was able to retain one of his key players, but is left rebuilding the remaining spots on his roster. They still have spots as of June 15th if they wish to fill the remaining open roster positions, but let’s go ahead and dive into how their roster is shaping up for the 2026-2027 season.
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Roster Turnover
Isaiah Elohim (Virginia Tech)
12.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1 assist
Devin Vanterpool (Providence)
15.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals
Josiah Parker (Georgetown)
9.6 points, 6 rebounds, 1.2 assists
Devin Williams (Seton Hall)
7.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists
Jack Johnson (TBD)
DNP
Xander Pintelon (Wake Forest)
6.2 points, 3.7 rebounds
Niccolo Moretti (Lamar)
5.6 points, 2 rebounds, 3.3 assists
Max Landenfeld (Evansville)
3.5 points, 0.9 rebounds (16 games / 8.2 minutes)
Vincent Neugebauer (Belmont)
2.4 points, 1.5 rebounds (14 games / 7.6 minutes)
Maxim Logue (Memphis)
4.8 points, 3.1 rebounds
Amar Amkou (North Texas)
5.5 points, 2.2 rebounds
Yohann Sissoko (Long Beach State)
3.3 points, 1.7 rebounds
The FAU Owls are losing all but one player who played a key role in the rotation last season. What’s notable looking at this list is the level of talent that jumped to strong programs. There are five heading to power conferences, two heading to the Missouri Valley, and another two heading to rivals within the American for programs in the conference North Texas & Memphis.
Returning Players
Kanaan Carlyle (Senior)
14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.1 steals
Lachlan Smith (Sophomore)
1 point (2 games / 1.5 minutes)
Liam Dayco-Green (Sophomore)
2 points, 0.4 rebounds (8 games / 3.1 minutes)
Zion Sampaio (Freshman)
DNP
Unlike many teams, the FAU Owls are returning one of their key players from last season in Kanaan Carlyle. The former Hoosier had his best season in college basketball thus far, averaging 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 40.9% overall and 32.4% from beyond the arc. He had some huge games, making him one of the go-to players last year. He finished the season with a 105.0 offensive rating, 24% possession usage, 12.1% defensive rebounding percentage, 17.1 assist rate, and a strong 51% shooting percentage from inside the arc.
Liam Dayco-Green & Lachlan Smith are both walk-ons, so expect their output to be similar to the past season. Zion Sampaio did not play last season, but he had a strong career at St Andrews prior to joining FAU.
Roster Additions
Braeden Speed (Sophomore ~ LMU-Maryland)
15.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1 steal
Josh Harris (Sophomore ~ Indiana)
DNP ~ Injury
Mason Porter-Brown (Senior ~ LIU)
7.8 points, 3.2 rebounds
Kieran Mullen (Sophomore ~ Pittsburgh)
0.8 points, 1.1 rebounds
Fawaz “Tacko” Ifaola (Sophomore ~ Colorado)
0.7 points, 2.1 rebounds
Matthew “Matas” Puodziukaitis (Junior ~ Lynn)
6 points, 5.3 rebounds
Felipe Quinones (Freshman)
Franck Belibi, Jr. (Freshman)
Guards
Braeden Speed (6’3)
Speed spent his first two seasons in college basketball at Loyola Maryland where he turned himself into a force for the Greyhounds. Last season, he averaged 15.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and one steal per game while shooting 40.6% overall and 30.3% from beyond the arc. He had some monster games, including 24 points with six assists and three rebounds against George Mason, 24 points against Navy, and a strong 13 points, 11 rebound, and seven assist performance against Lafayette.
Looking at his metrics, he finished the season with a 116.4 offensive rating, 23.9% possession usage, 58.8% true shooting percentage which was 332nd overall, 22.9 assist rate at 282nd best, and a 43.7 free throw rate while converted 80.8% of the time.
Against Division I opponents, his three point shooting percentage jumped to 36.7% on 147 attempts while he shot 51.9% from inside the arc. He’s a versatile scorer who will help compliment Kanaan Carlyle well.
Felipe Quinones (6’4)
The Miami Native out of Miami Columbus was a highly sought after recruit. He was listed as a four-star and the 133rd overall nationally per 247 Sports. Some had him right around 100 as well. He played with the IMG Academy and most recently the Puerto Rico national team in the FIBA U18 AmeriCup in 2026. He appeared in six games and averaged 9.7 points with 4.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting 35.3% overall.
Quinones held offers from Florida State, Mississippi State, Michigan, Purdue, and many other power conference programs. He’ll slot straight into a key position in the rotation for the Owls next season, so I’m excited to see how he can develop in year one as a freshman.
Franck Belibi, Jr (6’4)
Coming out of Colorado Academy, Belibi was a three star recruit and ranked the top prospect in Colorado while coming in at 242 in the country per 247 spots. He was a dominant scorer in high school and that showed during his time with Cameroon during the FIBA U19 tournament in 2025. Through seven games, he averaged 14.4 points, four rebounds, and one assist while shooting 36.3% overall and 37.1% from beyond the arc.
Belibi Jr. held offers from Pacific and Long Island. I’d be shocked if we don’t see him on the court this season with the overall lack of depth at the guard position for the Owls. He’ll be slotted to make an immediate impact in year one in the rotation.
Forwards
Josh Harris (6’8)
Josh Harris had about as good of a freshman season as you could ask for at North Florida two years ago. He started in 30 games while averaging 13.4 points and 7.1 rebounds while shooting 55.7% overall from the floor. He finished the season with a 117.1 offensive rating, 13% offensive rebounding percentage which was 72nd in the nation, 19.1% defensive rebounding percentage, and a 57.7% shooting percentage from inside the arc.
After his successful campaign, he left for Bloomington as he made the jump from the Atlantic Sun to join the Indiana Hoosiers in the Big Ten. Unfortunately, he was injured during a fall practice before the season could even start and he ended up missing the entire year.
To bounce back, he’ll look for a new opportunity with fellow former Hoosier Kanaan Carlyle with the FAU Owls. If he has fully recovered, he’ll be a force for the Owls this season and he’ll immediately slot into the starting rotation.
Mason Porter-Brown (6’6)
After two seasons in the JUCO ranks at Indian River, Porter-Brown made a jump to the Long Island Sharks last season. He finished the season averaging 7.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game while shooting 47.1% overall and 40.4% from three-point. The 6’6 forward averaged 20.1 minutes per game across 35 appearances.
Don’t let his stats fool you because he had some strong games. Against Notre Dame, he finished with 12 points and four rebounds, and against Arizona in the NCAA Tournament he had 15 points with three rebounds, one block, and one steal in 28 minutes.
He finished the season with a 115.2 offensive rating, 60.1% true shooting percentage, and 174th overall in the country in three-point shooting. He’s the type of player that’s going to provide you with some much needed output from beyond the arc.
Matthew Puodziukaitis (6’7)
Either Head Coach John Jakus or someone on his staff must believe that they’ve found a bit of a diamond in the rough with Puodziukaitis. He spent last season with Lynn University, a Division II program where he averaged six points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 61.7% overall. He missed all four of his attempts from beyond the arc.
There truly isn’t a ton of information out there on him, but he did play high school at Palm Beach Central so perhaps he has a connection with the program. He provides some depth at the forward position, and there is no doubt that he has athleticism with strong rebounding potential.
Centers
Kieran Mullen (7’0)
Mullen is an incoming 7’0 sophomore who spent his freshman season with the Pittsburgh Panthers. He appeared in 20 games while averaging 5.4 minutes per game. He averaged a shade blow one point a game at 0.8 with 1.1 rebounds while shooting 41.7% overall on 12 attempts. He finished with 5 points and 1 rebound against No. 20 Louisville in a blow out loss.
Coming out of high school, he was listed as a three-star recruit and the number one prospect out of British Columbia in Canada. The Vancouver native held offers from Coastal Carolina, Seattle, James Madison, and Montana State.
It’s hard to gauge what his role will be, but you should see him earn roughly 15-20 minutes (or even more if he takes off early) because his height is going to provide him with strong opportunities)
Fawaz Ifaola (7’0)
Ifaola is another 7’0 project coming into his sophomore season with the Owls. He spent last year with the Colorado Buffaloes where he appeared in 20 games and averaged 7.8 minutes per game. He averaged 0.7 points, but a strong 2.1 rebounds during his opportunities. In their 87-61 win over TCU, he had six points with six rebounds.
There is no doubt he can be a prolific rebounder. He finished with a 23.9% defensive rebounding percentage and he shot 77.8% from the floor. However, he has to work on the fouling. He averaged 1.8 fouls per game in his limited time. He ever fouled out in a blow out loss to Baylor in just 14 minutes of mostly garbage time.
With his height and rebounding ability, he will have a chance to make his mark this season, but he won’t be able to do that if he is fouling at an incredibly high rate.
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Expectations
The FAU Owls might not quite be done yet on the recruiting trail with a couple of additional roster spots available to fill in. However, it’s clear the areas that John Jakus wanted to focus on improving in this offseason to set themselves up for success heading into next year and get over the hump of finishing around .500.
The Owls were just 302nd in assist per field goals made last season, but they’ve done a great job of making improvement with playmaking a priority. Braeden Speed provides experience in leading a team in assists as he was the floor general for Loyola Maryland last season. Felipe Quinones is coming in as just a freshman, but he is a top-100 recruit for a reason. Last season, Niccolo Moretti led the Owls with 3.3 assists per game, but he wasn’t much of an offensive weapon at just 5.6 points per game. Now, you have Speed who is better offensively and someone like Quinones who is going to have a huge opportunity to develop this season.
Right now, there are a lot of question marks in my opinion on this roster. What are they going to get out of Ifaola & Mullen at the center position? Jakus loves to play up-tempo, can they keep up and make an impact on both ends of the court? Will Josh Harris bounce back to the budding star we saw his freshman season at North Florida prior to his injury? Can the two freshman come in and make an immediate impact? Lastly, this team lacks true experience.
I do love the potential of the team so far though. Returning Kanaan Carlyle provides you with veteran experience for someone that is already on the same page as the program and the coaching style of the staff. He’ll be the go-to player this season, while you added two additional players with strong experience at the lower levels in both Josh Harris and Braeden Speed. If they can come in and pick up where they left off, they’ll provide key support around Carlyle in the rotation.