FAU basketball's founding fathers floored by Final Four run

HOUSTON — More than three decades ago, Florida Atlantic University played its first college basketball game in Boca Raton.

It was a blowout: The Owls defeated Palm Beach Atlantic 111-62 and then hosted the Sailfish again seven days later.

The program didn't have much at the time: a few dedicated scholarship players, equipment lockers and a basketball gym just a bit bigger than a high school arena. The balmy beach breeze may have been the program's most effective recruiting lure.

34 years, four months and 13 days later, the Florida Atlantic Owls will compete in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in Houston's NRG Stadium — capacity 71,000.

How to watch the Final Four: Florida Atlantic basketball vs. San Diego State on TV channel, streaming

FAU's rise to the highest stage of Division I college basketball has been as stunning for the program's founding players and coaches as it has been for the nation.

Sure, they told themselves at the time they were standing at the foundation of a championship-caliber program, but one could hardly blame the original Owls for not believing it.

“We used to talk about how someday it was going to be a really good program,” former FAU head coach Tim Loomis said. “Someday, someone will come in here after we’ll all gone, have jobs elsewhere and they start families. We’ll look back and say we started that program.

"Not that we ever thought it would come to fruition.”

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From Division II to Division I

The program played its first five seasons in NCAA Division II. It was a haven for basketball players just looking for a chance to suit up while getting an education.

Even the thought of playing in Division I was a faraway dream, much less NCAA Tournaments or Final Fours.

“When we played on that first team we thought it was always going to be a Division II team," former FAU basketball player and assistant coach Scott Williams said. "We never thought it'd be a Division I, much less appearing in the Final Four."

Opposing chants made clear the fledgling program's reputation in those days, "FA-WHO??" and "Find Another University" among the more derogatory.

Loomis, who'd served as an assistant at Penn State, took over as head coach in the program's second season after Lonnie Williams left the program for UC-Davis in the spring of 1989. There was very little basketball infrastructure to speak of upon his arrival.

“If (Dusty May) thought it was career suicide [when he arrived at FAU], we were at the end of the rope,” Loomis laughed regarding the current FAU coach's comments on the program's lack of resources. “We started with nothing."

Loomis took the job expecting FAU to remain a Division II program for several years, but there was a problem: The Owls didn't have a conference to join.

With increasing resources but no future in Division II, Loomis was tasked with preparing the young program to compete in Division I on an accelerated schedule. That meant tougher scheduling and long road trips to face opponents far out of their class.

One season saw FAU play 23 road games to just four at home. Few programs saw the benefit of playing in Boca Raton and the Owls couldn't afford to pay them to do it.

“That group of kids had to stick together, no matter who we had," Loomis said. "When you’re getting your brains beat in at times … Those were some of the 'best teams’ I’ve coached because they were tough-minded and hung in there. We only had people who bought into the plan.”

Loomis credited former Miami and current Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton for helping the Owls fill out a major schedule. The Hurricanes scheduled the Owls six times in Loomis' tenure and even played in Boca Raton twice.

Opponents certainly didn't take it easy, however. A 110-59 loss to Florida State in 1993 was among the most brutal but lucrative beatings.

“The group that I think really built the program is the players that made the transition from Division II to Division I," Williams said. "They were playing some games they probably shouldn’t have played just to get the checks and money needed to make that move.

Final Four run awe-inspiring

Loomis largely forgot about FAU basketball in the decades after his departure.

He was fired in March 1995 after a third consecutive losing season and moved into an administrative role prior to the Owls' first full-time season in the Trans America Athletic Conference, which later became the Atlantic Sun. He left FAU in July and returned home to Greenville, Pennsylvania, where he coached high school before taking over at Thiel College, a Division III program, for the past 17 seasons.

Loomis said he always felt FAU could find success in men's basketball if for no other reason than its prime real estate near the Atlantic Ocean.

The program's lasting struggles, however, made clear the administration wasn't finding the humble leader he felt the program needed.

“I knew you didn’t need a big name to win at Florida Atlantic,” Loomis said. “You need someone to go out in the community, rub elbows, recruit people in South Florida, recruit everyone on the east and west coast of Florida. Someone knowledgeable that can get it done.

“When I met Dusty some years ago in an event at Lynn [University], I knew he was the guy. I knew he could get it done because of where he came from.”

He isn't alone among former Owls who appreciate what May has accomplished at the program they helped found.

When May's Owls tip off against San Diego State on Saturday night in Houston, they'll have made fans out of the program's former players and coaches.

“I have seen FAU go through the growing aspect and development," Williams said. "I think under the leadership — Dusty May has done an outstanding job. I hope we can keep him a long time."

“I’ve become more of a fan since my former players have been texting me so much, emailing … I’ve had more calls from reporters and magazines than I think we had at our press conferences for those years," Loomis said. “The former players have really got me to be more of a fan the last couple of weeks.”

Eric J. Wallace is deputy sports editor for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at ejwallace@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: FAU basketball's first players may be most surprised by Final Four run