FAU basketball: Why Owls, not Miami Hurricanes, are 'Florida's Team' in the Final Four

Florida Atlantic and Miami basketball brought national history to the Sunshine State in this most mad of Marches.

Florida became just the third state in the last 30 years to put two teams in the NCAA Tournament Final Four, joining North Carolina (UNC, Duke 2022) and Kentucky (UK, Louisville 2012).

This is undoubtedly cause for celebration and, when combined with Nova Southeastern's impressive NCAA Division II national championship, represents the state's best college basketball accomplishment since head coach Billy Donovan's back-to-back national titles with the Florida Gators in 2006 and 2007.

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Nonetheless, there's a clear difference in the roster composition that powered these Florida programs to the highest stage of Division I college basketball.

Here's the case for Florida Atlantic, not Miami, as "Florida's Team" in the 2023 NCAA Tournament Final Four:

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FAU is only Final Four roster with Florida hoopers

Florida Atlantic’s roster features six players who claim Florida hometowns, the only roster with any Florida natives in the Final Four. They represent a diverse set of regions and educational backgrounds in the Sunshine State.

Michael Forrest, the first recruit of the Dusty May era and FAU’s all-time leading 3-point shooter, is from Lauderhill in Broward County, where he won two state championships and was county player of the year at Blanche Ely in the public school system.

Bryan Greenlee hails from Gainesville and was a three-year starter at The Rock School, a powerhouse, private Christian School that competes in the Sunshine Independent Athletic Association. He was the Gainesville Sun Co-Player of the Year in high school and began his collegiate career at Minnesota.

Giancarlo Rosado was a dominant player at Palm Beach Lakes High School in the heart of West Palm Beach. He averaged 26.7 points and 9 rebounds per game in his senior season with the public school Rams.

The Owls' Florida ties extend to upcoming players who haven't featured much this season.

Sophomore forward Isaiah Gaines is one of the Panhandle's best recent high school basketball prospects. He shined at Pensacola High School in Northwest Florida under longtime head coach Terrence Harris before beginning his collegiate career in the JUCO ranks at Northwest Mississippi Community College.

Redshirt freshman Tre Carroll is one of the top Florida prospects on the roster: He was a three-star prospect, rated as the No. 20 player in Florida and No. 28 overall power forward nationally after a dominant varsity career in southwest Florida at Charlotte High School in Punta Gorda.

Freshman forward Brenen Lorient was also highly-rated as a 3-star prospect per 247 Sports. He began his varsity career with Forest High School, a public school in Ocala, before transferring to Calvary Christian Academy, a private school in Fort Lauderdale, where he won a state championship during his senior season.

Redshirt sophomore guard Alejandro Relat, a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, played his high school career in Boca Raton at Saint Andrew's, an elite private school, under longtime head coach John O'Connell.

Dusty May's commitment to recruiting Florida prospects

Dusty May has a clear track record of recruiting and developing Florida high school basketball prospects since he was named FAU head coach on March 22, 2018.

The only class without a Florida recruit on the current roster is 2019, although May still signed multiple Florida student-athletes.

Florida-based players in Dusty May's FAU recruiting classes

Class of 2022: Lorient signs, Gaines transfers from JUCO

2021: Carroll signs

2020: Rosado signs; Greenlee transfers from Minnesota

*2019: Kenan Blackshear signs (High school: Jones / Orlando) signs; Dardan Kapiti signs (The Rock School / Gainesville / Kosovo native)

2018: Forrest signs

*Blackshear transferred to Nevada in 2021 and Kapiti to Eastern Kentucky in 2022

Miami features few Florida prospects

The Hurricanes' roster has few Florida prospects and no Florida natives or public school products.

Sophomore forward Norchad Omier, a Nicaragua native and national team representative, played a postgraduate season with Miami Prep.

After immigrating to the United States, Omier was dominant under head coach Art Alvarez and earned a place in college basketball by proving himself against a schedule featuring private powerhouses like IMG Academy.

Fourth-year junior Harlond Beverly, a native of Detroit, Michigan, played at Montverde Academy, an elite prep basketball academy where Beverly played with current NBA stars like Cade Cunningham and Precious Achiuwa.

According to 247 Sports, the last Florida public school player signed by Jim Larranaga at Miami was Dewan (Huell) Hernandez in the Class of 2016. Hernandez was an elite prospect out of Miami Norland High School.

Overall, Larranaga's squads have featured fewer Florida-based players in recent years than they did in the first years after he accepted the Miami head coaching job in 2011.

Florida-based players in Jim Larranaga's Miami recruiting classes

2022: Omier transfers from Arkansas State (Miami Prep / Bluefields, Nicaragua)

2019: Beverly signs; Keith Stone transfers from Florida (Zion Lutheran / Deerfield Beach)

2018: Zach Johnson transfers from Florida Gulf Coast (Norland / Miami)

2016: Hernandez signs; Michael Gilmore transfers from VCU (Rickards / Tallahassee)

2015: Anthony Lawrence signs (Lakewood / St. Petersburg)

2014: Joe Thomas transfers from Niagara (Dr. Michael Krop / Miami)

2013: DeAndre Burnett signs (Carol City / Miami)

2012: Tonye Jekiri signs (Champagnat Catholic / Miami)

2011: Shane Larkin signs (Dr. Phillips / Orlando)

UConn, San Diego State do not feature Florida hoopers

While San Diego State features no players who attended or claim a hometown in Florida, UConn does have two student-athletes who came to Florida to play at private academies.

Alex Karaban, a native of Brooklyn, New York, played high school ball at private powerhouse Montverde Academy while Emmett Hendry, a Massachusetts native, played high school ball at IMG Academy.

Rosters mirror FAU vs. Miami school demographics

Miami and Florida Atlantic's rosters ultimately mirror the demographics of the schools they represent.

According to 2021 data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Florida Atlantic University's undergraduate enrollment was 86 percent in-state students. 11 percent were out-of-state students and just two percent were from foreign countries.

For the University of Miami, only 34 percent of students were in-state while 57 percent were out-of-state and seven percent were from foreign countries.

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: Why FAU basketball, not Miami, is Florida's true Final Four school