Johnell Davis, Alijah Martin to return to FAU for 2023-24 season

Florida Atlantic men’s basketball is still basking in he glow of its surprise run to the Final Four this past March and got some really good news on Wednesday. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that guards Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin have withdrawn their names from the 2023 NBA Draft and will return to the Owls for the 2023-24 season.

As sophomores this past season, Davis and Martin were the two leading scorers for FAU and were the focal points of an offense that was ranked in the top 25 in both KenPom and NET rankings through the regular season. Both subsequently played huge roles in the Owls’ run through the NCAA Tournament, with Davis dropping 29 points in their 78-70 second-round victory over Fairleigh Dickinson and Martin putting up 17 in their 79-76 Elite Eight victory over Kansas State. Martin would provide 26 points in the national semifinals against San Diego State and had the team on the brink of a berth in the title game before Lamont Butler’s buzzer-beater ended their season.

With the two dynamic guards re-joining impact center Vladislav Goldin and head coach Dusty May, FAU will enter the 2023-24 season highly ranked with a shot at being the top mid-major team in the country once again. The Owls are moving from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference this winter and should contend with Memphis as the league favorite.