From the Desk of Brian White

Dear Owl Fans:
The 2022-23 academic year has come to a close, and it has been a tremendous year for the Florida Atlantic Owls. Our student-athletes once again embodied "Winning in Paradise" both on the fields and courts of play, and most importantly, in the classroom.

Serving as the "front porch" to the University, the athletic department's mission is to create a brighter future for FAU through student-athlete success. With that goal in mind, the athletic department generated more than $2.5 billion worth of exposure for the University.

Our generous donors and supporters help make "Winning in Paradise" possible each year. To each and every one of you, I say THANK YOU for helping us make our dreams reality and for helping our student-athletes achieve their goals.

As of July 1, 2023, we officially became a member of the American Athletic Conference. As an athletic department, we are ready for the fantastic opportunities that come with a new stage and a new era for the Owls. With any new opportunity comes challenges. We will need your support more than ever as we embark on this new journey.

Over the past several months, many of our donors have stepped up to help us support our student-athletes in meaningful ways. Since the fall, we have announced many generous gift commitments, including two that will enhance our facilities which most heavily touch our teams.

OUR SUPPORTERS

We are so thankful for all the generous supporters who continue to make "Winning in Paradise" possible. This year, Eleanor R. Baldwin graciously gave 7.5 million dollars to name the arena and fully renovate it.

Thank you to Michelle and Michael Hagerty for their generous gift for the Hagerty Athletics Village! The village will include the Hagerty Family Track, which will be installed this fall, in addition to renovations to the Tom Oxley Center. Those renovations will benefit all Owl student-athletes.

Along with those improvements, construction on the baseball player development center, made possible by a $1 million anonymous gift, will begin in the coming months.

With the 2022-23 fiscal year coming to a close, I'm pleased to report that overall giving for the year more than DOUBLED the total from the prior year to $15.3 million dollars. In part, this was made possible thanks to 503 NEW donors. We welcomed seven six or seven-figure gifts, bringing our total to 30 since 2018.

We all enjoyed celebrating alongside the men's basketball team, ending the season with seven-consecutive sellouts and fans are quickly purchasing tickets for the Owls' next campaign. In fact, men's basketball is in the midst of selling season tickets. As of today, those sales are up 634% compared to a year ago. Women's basketball experienced a 29% growth last season and I anticipate a similar increase in the coming year as the quality of opponents coming to Boca Raton continues to rise. The ticket staff is currently experiencing a 34% football season ticket increase compared to last season. In addition, FAU ranked No. 6 nationally in its five-year average attendance growth. There was a 10% growth between 2021 and 2022 with a 25% increase over the five-year span. Student attendance at FAU football games was the highest ever with a 20% increase from 2021 to 2022. The highest ever student attendance trend continued through the men's basketball season. Overall fan bases grew in 2022-23 with women's basketball improving by 69%, softball increasing by 27% and baseball, one of our oldest and more established teams, continued to grow at a rate of 5%.

In the ever-changing landscape of college athletics, the success that our student-athletes are able to have in the NIL space is critically important. Please consider supporting NIL opportunities and reach out to our staff of Michael Graffin, Alvin Hines or Haiden Nagel with any questions on this front.

Again, we cannot say thank you enough to all who support our student-athletes. Every gift matters and every gift is appreciated. Together, we can continue to take Florida Atlantic Athletics to the next level.

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS
FAU Athletics has partnered with Playfly Sports to become its multimedia rights holder beginning with the 2023-24 academic year. The multi-million-dollar agreement will significantly enhance the Owls' brand and revenue. This partnership will more than double the department's annual corporate sponsorship revenue in year one and triple it over the course of the agreement. Please consider partnering with the Owls to help grow your business and drive ROI. Reach out to our new GM RJ Martino with any questions or interest.

SOCIAL MEDIA
The Owl following saw a 1,263% mention increase on Twitter. Facebook new page likes increased by 1,400% and Instagram profile visits rose 617%. This growth only represents the department's main account and is even more significant when the individual team accounts are added.

ACADEMIC UPDATE

The emphasis on academic success at Florida Atlantic continues to result in more "Winning" in the classroom. For 16-consecutive semesters, our student-athletes have maintained a remarkable combined GPA above 3.0 (3.273). An impressive 72 percent of our student-athletes achieved a spring semester GPA of 3.0 or higher. Equally important, we celebrated the graduation of 81 student-athletes and we know they will make an impact in our community. We wish them the best of luck and hope they will come back to visit "Paradise" in the years to come.

WINNING IN PARADISE

We must begin with men's basketball and the historic and transformative season that we all witnessed. The Owls advanced to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament, tallying a 35-4 record along the way. The Owls' 35 wins were the most in all of NCAA Division I men's basketball last season and were only three shy of the all-time single-season record. Florida Atlantic also captured the Conference USA Championship and shattered numerous school records during its history-making season.
The football team has completed its first spring practice under Hagerty Family Head Coach Tom Herman's direction. Coach Herman has assembled a staff comprised of National Champions, former NFL players, highly touted Florida recruiters and coaches who grew up, played, coached, or recruited the tri-county area. They plan to take over the tri-county. Their first home contest is Saturday, Sept. 2 versus Monmouth. Their first home American Athletic Conference contest is Saturday, Oct. 7 versus Tulsa. The conference move will allow you to easily follow the team home and away as part of the AAC and ESPN broadcast agreement.
Beach volleyball did it again, advancing to the NCAA National Championship in back-to-back seasons after capturing the 2023 Conference USA Championship. With the title, the Owls secured 19 wins for the third-consecutive year. Head Coach Steve Grotowski was named C-USA Coach of the Year, and the Owls ran the table on C-USA accolades earning the 2023 C-USA Pair of the Year, C-USA Co-Freshman of the Year, having two pairs to earned First-Team honors and having two All-Freshman Team honorees.
Jessica Lambert of the women's track & field team dominated both the indoor and outdoor seasons, culminating in qualifying for the 2023 NCAA D1 Outdoor Championships in the 800m after winning gold medals in each C-USA Championship. She now has the school record in the indoor and outdoor 800m.
On the diamond, baseball's Nolan Schanuel cemented himself as one of the greatest players in program history with a historic junior season. After being named C-USA Preseason Player of the Year and a Preseason All-American by five major college baseball publications, Schanuel exceeded even the highest of expectations, leading all of Division I in batting average (.447), on base percentage (.615), and walks (71). He was named as a First Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and a semifinalist for USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award. On the academic side, Schanuel is just the fourth student-athlete in Florida Atlantic history to be named as an Academic All-American. He became the program's first student-athlete, in any sport, to leave the Owls as a first-round draftee when he was selected by the Angels as the 11th overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft.
Both the men's and women's swimming & diving teams saw success. Diver Alicia Mora of the women's team became the first Owl to qualify for the NCAA Championships since 2017. Competing in the American Athletic Conference Championships for the first time, Mora also won bronze medals in both the 1 and 3-meter dive, while freshman swimmer Amelia Robertson placed third in the 200 back. Meanwhile, the men's team won three gold medals in the CCSA Championships, followed by Rateb Hussein winning the 50 fly in the team's first National Invitational Championship appearance.
Florida Atlantic women's soccer won 11 games and advanced to the 2022 Conference USA Championship match. The 11 wins are the most since 2019. The C-USA tournament appearance was the eighth-consecutive under head coach Patrick Baker. Gi Krstec earned Conference USA Midfielder of the Year honors, as well as United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America recognition, becoming the program's first All-American.
On the men's soccer side, former Owl Alonso Coello Camarero became the first Owl to sign a first-team MLS contract. He made his debut April 1, 2023, for Toronto FC when they took on Charlotte.
Softball captured 35 wins in head coach Jordan Clark's first season at the program's helm. The Owls' win total is the most since the 2017 season. Gabby Sacco earned C-USA Pitcher of the Year honors as well as NFCA All-South Region honors. The pitcher of the year award is the first major award winner for FAU since the 2016 season and the first all-region honoree since 2019. Also, Sommer Baker recently received a C-USA post-graduate scholarship.
As you are reading this, senior men's golfer Alex Maguire is competing with the best in the world in the 151st Open Championship in Liverpool, England. Maguire is just the second Florida Atlantic men's golfer to compete in one of golf's four major championships. The Irishman qualified via the Open amateur series by winning the St. Andrews Links Trophy on June 11 and reaching the quarterfinals of the British Amateur Championship the following week.
Cheer and dance teams make up the FAU spirit squad, and this year, it was the cheer's time to shine. In April, the Owls captured the 2023 D1A NCA Intermediate Small Coed National Champion title. It was their first appearance at Nationals, since winning their 2016 National Title.

PARADISE PRIDE PROGRAM

In May, we relaunched our Paradise Pride program. We have received over 1,000 submissions so far! Fans are encouraged to request a "Winning in Paradise" yard sign HERE. Fans will have pick-up opportunities at the stadium, and we will deliver locally to those who will display the yard sign! Check out the hashtag #ParadisePride on social media to see pictures of Owl flags and yard signs already proudly displayed in the community. Help us continue to make our mark as your HOMETOWN TEAM.

Thank you again for your support through this tremendous year for Florida Atlantic Athletics. We look forward to seeing you all back on campus when Fall events kick off in August. Until then, enjoy your summer, and Go Owls!

Sincerely,
Brian White
Vice President and Director of Athletics

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