Good morning, Owls Family. FAU VP and Director of Athletics Brian White announced Thursday another significant gift commitment from Michelle and Michael Hagerty to further support the Owls' Hagerty Athletics Village.

This most recent contribution, which supplements the Hagerty's initial transformational gift in December of 2022, is earmarked to further support projects within the village.

Learn more about the Hagerty Family’s previous contributions, and get more details about these enhancements.

What else do we have mixed into today’s Brew? Check it out below!

🏈 Owls in the NFL Week 14 Rundown
🌊 Two announcements in Swimming & Diving
🦉 And much, much more

🔼 Forget the Telly—Hit the Elly. This is your fair warning—the last home game of 2024 for FAU MBB is comin’ in HOT! 🔥

Don’t miss your Owls in action one final time this calendar year. Catch them this Saturday at 2 p.m. ET as they take on Texas State at the Elly.

🎟 Buy Tickets NOW! 🏀

🔼 Megabowl Rewind. What’s better than the Florida Atlantic's men's basketball team taking down Jacksonville in a 85-63 victory, winning the third annual Boca Raton Megabowl? 👇🏼

🎬 Re-living the experience from Tuesday in all its cinematic glory. 🏀

🔼 Friday Night Lights, WBB-Style. The Florida Atlantic Owls women’s basketball team closes out its non-conference home slate tonight as FAU welcomes the Kennesaw State Owls for a 7 p.m. ET tip inside the Elly and on ESPN+. Florida Atlantic leads Kennesaw State 4-2 all-time, including winning two of the last three matchups. In Boca Raton, Florida Atlantic holds a 2-1 all-time series advantage.

The Owls enter the matchup at 5-4 on the season. They have won two of their last four games, and will look to snap a two-game skid.

🔼 Plenty of Hoopla. Episode 17 of Florida Atlantic's Inside the Owls' Burrow airs tonight at 6 p.m. and again tomorrow (Saturday) at 11:30 a.m. Inside the Owls' Burrow is also available on fausports.com and YouTube. 

The attention of this week's show stays with the basketball teams. Host Frank Forte will feature forward Baba Miller and updates on the women's basketball season thus far. Forte will also highlight women's assistant coach Alex Varlan, who is wired for sound at practice. Finally, newly named Hagerty Head Football Coach Zach Kittley sat down with Forte just hours before his public introduction to map out his plan for the Owls.

🔼 James and the Giant Play. Week 14 of the 2024 NFL season is in the books with six former Florida Atlantic Owls seeing action.
 
#42 James Pierre | CB | Pittsburgh Steelers
- Pierre made 37 snaps, 17 on defense and 20 on special teams. On kickoff coverage, he made a tackle on a long return to prevent a Cleveland Browns touchdown. In the fourth, Pierre dove to intercept an errant pass by the quarterback and returned it 18 yards, longest of his career, to help Pittsburgh clinch a 27-14 victory over their AFC North foe. 

⇢ Read the full Owls in the NFL Week 14 Rundown. 🏈

🔼 Swimming in Competition. American Athletic Conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti has announced the addition of three affiliate member institutions to the conference in women's swimming and diving effective July 1, 2025.
 
James Madison University, Liberty University and Marshall University will bring The American's membership in women's swimming and diving to nine, joining full members East Carolina University, Florida Atlantic University, University of North Texas, Rice University and Tulane University as well as affiliate member Florida International University.

🔼 Head Honchos. The Florida Atlantic Coaches Show, presented by Duffy's Sports Grill, continued the 2024-25 schedule this past week. Wednesday’s show featured a discussion on the start of hoops season by MBB head coach John Jakus and WBB coach Jennifer Sullivan. It now moves to Tuesdays from 6-7 p.m., with guests announced each week. You can listen to the show live on the station of the Florida Atlantic Sports Network, FOX Sports 640 South Florida.

🎤 Go here for the full schedule. 🗓

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Friday, Dec. 13
🏀 Women’s Basketball vs. Kennesaw State @ 7 p.m. ET ESPN+ | Watch Live | Live Stats | Tickets

Saturday, Dec. 14
🌊 Swimming & Diving @ Miami (W)/Cincinnati (M&W)
🏀 Men’s Basketball vs. Texas State @ 2 p.m. ET ESPN+ Fox Sports 640 South Florida | Watch Live | Live Audio | Live Stats

Sunday, Dec. 15
🌊 Swimming & Diving @ CSCAA Water National Championship

🦉 Go here for the complete Florida Atlantic University Athletics Calendar

⇢⇢⇢ What member of the FAU men’s soccer team was named a Second Team Academic All-American this week?

Have a guess?

Scroll to the bottom to find out!

Paradise Trivia is brought to you by Choice Mortgage Group, the Official Mortgage Lender of Florida Atlantic Athletics.

🦉 ONE BIG THING

Pomp and the Perfect Circumstance. Congrats to these Owls, and best of luck to them on their future endeavors!

And in more swimming news…🌊👇🏼

The Answer: Noah Kvifte!

Read the full story on the Academic All-American honor.

🦉 It’s Friday, y’all!