John Jakus agrees to a 5-year deal to become new FAU Men’s Basketball Coach
It was announced Tuesday night that John Jakus agreed to a 5-year deal that would make him the 10th Head Men’s Basketball Coach in FAU history First being reported by Jeff Goodman on X, and later followed up with a statement from FAU Athletic Director Brian White.
“When we began this search, we spoke to coaches, athletic directors, administrators, scouts, and agents, and the name that kept coming up with glowing reviews was John Jakus,” said Vice President and Director of Athletics Brian White. “He checks so many boxes in what we’re looking for to enhance and build on the momentum in our program. His pedigree, learning from two of the greatest coaches in the game today, is unmatched. John is a tireless worker who cares deeply for his players and has an innate understanding of the current landscape in college athletics. He is a winner and is passionate about doing it the right way. I’m so thrilled, on behalf of President Stacy Volnick and our Board of Trustees, to welcome John, his wife Sara, and their children Brady, Cal, and Harper to the FAU family,” White said in a release on wednesday evening.
Jakus is a vastly experienced head coach on both the college level and professionally overseas. Most recently, he has been on staff at Baylor 7 years, serving as Associate Head Coach on Scott Drews’ staff. He was an exceptional recruiter on staff with the bears, having played a key role in signing 2 5 stars at baylor in Yves Missi and Jason Asemota and 2 4 stars in Miro Little and Jeremy Sochan, showing an impeccable ability to recruit internationally. He also worked on game planning, specifically how to attack space and open up the floor based on off pick and rolls being his focus. He also began his college coaching career at Baylor, working as a Graduate Assistant in 2012-2014.
Prior to working at Baylor, he was on staff with Mark Few at Gonzaga as the director of operations and implemented an analytical overhaul while in Spokane that helped the team improve in offensive and defensive efficiency ratings. Jakus got his feet wet in recruiting in the summer of 2015 when Few was coaching the olympic team, and Jakus took over a critical July recruiting period for Gonzaga.
Jakus got head coaching experience while working overseas, working as the Chaplain and Head Coach of Agape Bulgaria in 2008-2009, and Head Coach and General Manager of Aba Strumica in 2010-2011 through a ministry-based organization called athletes in action. Jakus was taken away from his overseas duties when his son was diagnosed with autism, and he decided to return to the US to take care of him. He accepted a job as a GA at Baylor, a school with outstanding autism resources, and his college career skyrocketed from there.
Also of note, Jakus is an alumni of Trinity International University in Illinois class of 1999, which is the same school current FAU assistant Todd Abernethy was the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at in 2018.
Since coming to the college ranks, Jakus has experienced nothing but winning across his twelve years of division one college coaching experience. While on staff his teams have debuted a 316-98 overall record, 5 sweet 16 appearances, 3 elite 8s, 2 Final Fours, and one National Championship.
Jakus will be looking to build off that success with a program that has been able to have some success of their own. In a statement released Wednesday night he credited past leadership for that success and expressed his excitement to carry on that tradition.
“This is such a special moment for me, my wife Sara, and my children Brady, Cal, and Harper,” said Jakus. “I’m both honored and humbled to be the head coach at Florida Atlantic University. I want to extend my sincere thanks to President Stacy Volnick, Director of Athletics Brian White and the Board of Trustees for their belief in me and my vision for the future of the Owls. This program has been in such great hands, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for what Dusty May, his staff, and the players have accomplished. FAU has been one of the best teams in the nation the last two years and I am so fortunate to carry on that tradition,” Jakus said.
FAU had to pick carefully in what was the most important hire in school history, and Brian White chose a winner across multiple levels. It is unknown how things will play out; however FAU went outside the realm of safety with this choice, and it is evident that the school is willing to make an investment in basketball alongside football.
Jakus will be introduced to the University at a press conference at Eleanor R Baldwin Arena on Friday with a time to be announced.