Florida Atlantic University Athletics
From the Desk of Brian White -- December 31, 2025
12/31/2025 11:00:00 AM | General
Happy New Year!
From our family to yours, we hope you've enjoyed the holidays and here's to a joyous and prosperous new year!
As I reflect on 2025, we have so much to celebrate from championships to individual honors to elite academics, this is truly an incredible time to be in Paradise.
I want to start by congratulating American Conference Coach of the Year Joey Worthen and the men's soccer team on winning both the regular season and conference tournament titles during an historic 2025 season!
Led by back-to-back Conference Offensive Player of the Year Mamadou Diarra, the Owls reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time and finished with a 12-4-2 record – one shy of the program's all-time record for wins.
Our move to the American Conference in 2023 was a remarkable and historic step up for the entire university, and we are flourishing. Since joining the league two years ago, our four conference titles in team sports put us in the top tier in the conference in that span. It's a place we expect to stay.
The FAU brand is stronger than ever. We're playing on national television more than in any time in our history, our student-athletes are performing at record levels in the classroom, and we're hanging banners. I'm so proud of what we're accomplishing, and the best is yet to come!
Academic success continues to be the standard. This past fall, we boasted a cumulative GPA of 3.262 -- the 21st consecutive semester above a 3.0 and the eighth straight semester better than 3.1.
Of our 19 teams, 18 were above a 3.0, with each of our women's teams posting a 3.3 or better. The American Conference champion men's soccer team led the way on the men's side with a 3.389 GPA, while women's golf was the overall leader with an impressive 3.811!
I also want to congratulate the football team, which earned its highest semester GPA on record last spring.
The decade-long streak of achieving a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 is truly an incredible accomplishment by our student-athletes. I want to thank them, along with our coaches and academic staff and everyone who supports our mission.
The new year brings with it the start of American Conference play in basketball, and we hope to see you at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena as we continue to make the Elly one of the toughest places to play in the country.
Limited tickets remain for FAU home games and can be purchased by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visiting FAUSports.com.
The men came through a challenging non-league schedule with an 8-5 record, including wins over Boston College, FGCU and Charleston and took an 11-1 UCF team to the wire in Orlando before the holiday break. The Owls open conference play in Boca today at 1 p.m. with a New Year's Eve matinee versus UTSA, and are back home to welcome Memphis in a nationally-televised game on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 1 p.m.
Junior Devin Vanterpool is the league's sixth leading scorer at 16.7 points per game, while UCLA transfer Devin Williams is one of the nation's best shot blockers for an FAU team that leads the conference in rejections.
You can catch the women's team at the Elly on Saturday at 3 p.m. versus Rice after opening its American schedule yesterday versus North Texas. First-year Head Coach LeAnn Freeland and the squad picked up impressive wins over FIU, Western Kentucky, Air Force and a buzzer-beater over Kennesaw State.
The Owls play an exciting and unselfish brand of basketball, with six players averaging at least seven points per game, led by Vivian Onugha.
I know Hagerty Family Football Head Coach Zach Kittley and his staff have been busy this off-season working the transfer portal, while also retaining some top-end talent in Paradise, including one of the top offensive tandems in college football with quarterback Caden Veltkamp and receiver Easton Messer.
Easton led the nation in catches per game, while Caden was third nationally in passing yards. They've re-written the Owls' offensive record books and we're ecstatic for their return in 2026.
Kittley and his high-octane offense were thrilling to watch and the squad certainly showed marked improvement throughout the year. There is tremendous momentum building in the program and we're already looking forward to what should be an exciting 2026 season.
The home schedule at Flagler Credit Union Stadium will be one of the best in recent history, as the Owls will welcome rivals USF and FIU, along with Navy, Rice and UTSA. Be on the lookout as season tickets will be rolling out soon.
With that said, we announced a strategic partnership with Taymar before the holiday break. Taymar is an industry-leader in outbound ticket sales and will provide a robust infrastructure to further enhance our outbound sales initiatives and ticket sales strategies.
We welcome Taymar's team to Boca Raton and are thrilled to partner with them in this period of record growth and success for FAU Athletics. More fans attended our home events on average last year than any year in school history. Taymar will be tasked with continuing that growth as we deepen our connection as the Hometown Team.
I'm proud that Florida Atlantic University remains at the forefront of an ever-evolving college athletics landscape. We have tremendous support, and it is paying dividends in championship success on and off the field.
In June, the university announced its immediate intent to support the Athletics Competitive Excellence Fund with an annual multi-million-dollar allocation of auxiliary funds, averaging $5 million per year. When you combine that with our record-breaking private giving, it allows Florida Atlantic to be ultra-competitive in the American Conference and the Group of 5.
From our loyal fans, to our Paradise Club donors, to our corporate partners, and to our campus leadership including President Adam Hasner and Board Chair Piero Bussani, the institutional alignment and investment has never been stronger. That support is paramount to our success now and well into the future!
Thank you again, Happy New Year and hope to see you soon!
Go Owls!
Brian White
Vice President and Director of Athletics
#WIP
From our family to yours, we hope you've enjoyed the holidays and here's to a joyous and prosperous new year!
As I reflect on 2025, we have so much to celebrate from championships to individual honors to elite academics, this is truly an incredible time to be in Paradise.
I want to start by congratulating American Conference Coach of the Year Joey Worthen and the men's soccer team on winning both the regular season and conference tournament titles during an historic 2025 season!
Led by back-to-back Conference Offensive Player of the Year Mamadou Diarra, the Owls reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time and finished with a 12-4-2 record – one shy of the program's all-time record for wins.
Our move to the American Conference in 2023 was a remarkable and historic step up for the entire university, and we are flourishing. Since joining the league two years ago, our four conference titles in team sports put us in the top tier in the conference in that span. It's a place we expect to stay.
The FAU brand is stronger than ever. We're playing on national television more than in any time in our history, our student-athletes are performing at record levels in the classroom, and we're hanging banners. I'm so proud of what we're accomplishing, and the best is yet to come!
Academic success continues to be the standard. This past fall, we boasted a cumulative GPA of 3.262 -- the 21st consecutive semester above a 3.0 and the eighth straight semester better than 3.1.
Of our 19 teams, 18 were above a 3.0, with each of our women's teams posting a 3.3 or better. The American Conference champion men's soccer team led the way on the men's side with a 3.389 GPA, while women's golf was the overall leader with an impressive 3.811!
I also want to congratulate the football team, which earned its highest semester GPA on record last spring.
The decade-long streak of achieving a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 is truly an incredible accomplishment by our student-athletes. I want to thank them, along with our coaches and academic staff and everyone who supports our mission.
The new year brings with it the start of American Conference play in basketball, and we hope to see you at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena as we continue to make the Elly one of the toughest places to play in the country.
Limited tickets remain for FAU home games and can be purchased by calling 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visiting FAUSports.com.
The men came through a challenging non-league schedule with an 8-5 record, including wins over Boston College, FGCU and Charleston and took an 11-1 UCF team to the wire in Orlando before the holiday break. The Owls open conference play in Boca today at 1 p.m. with a New Year's Eve matinee versus UTSA, and are back home to welcome Memphis in a nationally-televised game on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 1 p.m.
Junior Devin Vanterpool is the league's sixth leading scorer at 16.7 points per game, while UCLA transfer Devin Williams is one of the nation's best shot blockers for an FAU team that leads the conference in rejections.
You can catch the women's team at the Elly on Saturday at 3 p.m. versus Rice after opening its American schedule yesterday versus North Texas. First-year Head Coach LeAnn Freeland and the squad picked up impressive wins over FIU, Western Kentucky, Air Force and a buzzer-beater over Kennesaw State.
The Owls play an exciting and unselfish brand of basketball, with six players averaging at least seven points per game, led by Vivian Onugha.
I know Hagerty Family Football Head Coach Zach Kittley and his staff have been busy this off-season working the transfer portal, while also retaining some top-end talent in Paradise, including one of the top offensive tandems in college football with quarterback Caden Veltkamp and receiver Easton Messer.
Easton led the nation in catches per game, while Caden was third nationally in passing yards. They've re-written the Owls' offensive record books and we're ecstatic for their return in 2026.
Kittley and his high-octane offense were thrilling to watch and the squad certainly showed marked improvement throughout the year. There is tremendous momentum building in the program and we're already looking forward to what should be an exciting 2026 season.
The home schedule at Flagler Credit Union Stadium will be one of the best in recent history, as the Owls will welcome rivals USF and FIU, along with Navy, Rice and UTSA. Be on the lookout as season tickets will be rolling out soon.
With that said, we announced a strategic partnership with Taymar before the holiday break. Taymar is an industry-leader in outbound ticket sales and will provide a robust infrastructure to further enhance our outbound sales initiatives and ticket sales strategies.
We welcome Taymar's team to Boca Raton and are thrilled to partner with them in this period of record growth and success for FAU Athletics. More fans attended our home events on average last year than any year in school history. Taymar will be tasked with continuing that growth as we deepen our connection as the Hometown Team.
I'm proud that Florida Atlantic University remains at the forefront of an ever-evolving college athletics landscape. We have tremendous support, and it is paying dividends in championship success on and off the field.
In June, the university announced its immediate intent to support the Athletics Competitive Excellence Fund with an annual multi-million-dollar allocation of auxiliary funds, averaging $5 million per year. When you combine that with our record-breaking private giving, it allows Florida Atlantic to be ultra-competitive in the American Conference and the Group of 5.
From our loyal fans, to our Paradise Club donors, to our corporate partners, and to our campus leadership including President Adam Hasner and Board Chair Piero Bussani, the institutional alignment and investment has never been stronger. That support is paramount to our success now and well into the future!
Thank you again, Happy New Year and hope to see you soon!
Go Owls!
Brian White
Vice President and Director of Athletics
#WIP
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