By Scott Morganroth

A year ago, the FAU Owls basketball team had a 21-11 record and were in first place in the Sun Belt Conference with a 13-3 mark. That earned them a trip to the NIT, where they would lose to the Miami Hurricanes.

What a difference a year makes. The Owls finished with an 11-19 overall mark and were tied for third place in the conference with Western Kentucky with 7-9 records.

FAU’s only chance to make it to the NCAA Tournament was to win the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Hot Springs, Arkansas. But Arkansas State (13-19) put an end to FAU’s post-season aspirations by ousting the Owls, 70-55, Saturday Night.

Dennis Mavin led the 8th-seeded Owls with 12 points and Shavar Richardson had 11. FAU finished the season with a five-game losing streak. This was the last game for Richardson and his fellow senior Alex Tucker.

Richardson finished his career with 1,018 points, which is 9th in FAU history, while Tucker leaves as the all-time leader in assists with 538, which is also good for 7th all-time in Sun Belt Conference history.

FAU Coach Mike Jarvis’ career record at FAU stands at 52-71, while he is 371-273 overall.

After the Owls blew a double-digit lead to the Troy Trojans and lost an 83-82 decision, he had some critical comments about the way the season has gone, especially after the high expectations following last year.

“We’re still not ready to win and we may not be again this year,” Jarvis said. “This team should have been better, has the ability to win games and the games we lost were mostly mental. We haven’t played as hard as we can for 40 minutes all year. Until we do, we don’t deserve to win.

“We’re talented enough. I love my guys. They’re mature, but my children are not hungry enough like most teams in America.

“Last year’s team was much hungrier and this team lacks hunger. Lots of teams will go into their conference tournament, hoping the fairy godmother will get them to the NCAA Tournament.”

The players will be watching the NCAA Tournament like the rest of us on their couches or at sports bars.

During the Owls final home game against Troy, former FAU Baseball Coach Kevin Cooney was honored as the newest member into the School’s Sports Hall of Fame.

With basketball season over, this hasn’t been a good year for Men’s Producing Revenue Sports, as the football team finished with a 1-11 mark. In addition, the basketball squad reported an  underachieving year at 11-19.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com.

By Scott Morganroth

When I went to training camp to see the FAU Owls practice eight days ago, there was definitely a different feeling this time.

By now, everyone knows this will be the final season for Coach Howard Schnellenberger, who has built the Owls program from scratch. When I asked him about what it was like to enter his final season, he refused to address the subject. He rarely dodges a question, but I do know that he’s probably been asked it several times lately. More importantly, he’ll have an entire season to talk about it, thus, his focus remained on the Florida Gators on Sept. 3.

By now, though, Schnellenberger is probably trying to put the No. 22 Florida Gators behind him as his team suffered a 41-3 loss on Saturday in Gainesville. FAU’s only points came on a 27-yard field goal by Vinnie Zaccario.

Getting dominated in the following statistical areas were things the 77-year-old coach knows he has to improve on this week.

Against the Gators, Florida dominated in total offense by outgaining FAU, 468-137, and in first downs, 30-11. Anything close to these numbers Saturday against the Michigan State Spartans at noon on ESPN 2 will lead to yet another forgettable afternoon.

The last thing Schnellenberger needs is another embarrassment. Michigan State leads the all-time series 2-0.

Schnellenberger prepared for the Florida game the same way he has for so many.

“We prepare correctly for every game we play,” Schnellenberger said. “We prepare harder and more than put forth the effort. We think we have a full cup.”

He added that this training camp was no different than any other and never worried about retirement.

“I know this is the last time we’ll play Florida, Michigan State on down the line,” Schnellenberger said. “But it’s not as big a thing, you know. You coach for 52 years, and there were times that I thought it would be over already. You know it’s coming to an end, so it’s no big thing.”

I was recently asked by some friends and family about whether I was surprised by Schnellenberger’s retirement? I told them “NO.”

First of all, he was able to become the George Washington of FAU Football and since he won’t win a national championship in Boca Raton, what better way to go out on top than to coach the final year in a brand-new on-campus stadium.

Schnellenberger turned that dream into a reality. Icing on the cake would be taking the Owls to another bowl game and winning it. But even if he doesn’t reach the post-season, on Jan. 21, 2012, he’ll coach one more time against former FSU legendary coach Bobby Bowden at FAU Stadium.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33.com.