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TABLE OF CONTENTS November 15, 2016 | VOL.18 | #7

SPORTS For the Love of the Game Jailyn Ingram suited up for Owls basketball and turned down numerous football offers from prestigious programs.

BY HANS BELOT JR. | PAGE 12

UP STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF Ryan Lynch MANAGING EDITOR Andrew Fraieli CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ivan Benavides ASSISTANT CREATIVE DIRECTOR Celeste Andrews WEB EDITOR Richard Finkel PHOTO EDITOR Patrick Delaney COPY DESK CHIEF Carissa Noelle Giard ASSISTANT COPY DESK CHIEF Kerri-Marie Covington COPY EDITORS Natalie Tribbey, Ben Paley NEWS EDITOR Joe Pye SPORTS EDITOR Brendan Feeney FEATURES EDITOR Tucker Berardi OPINIONS EDITOR Miller Lepree CREATIVE JUICES EDITOR Sabrina Loftus CONTRIBUTORS Hans Belot Jr., Jonathan Scott, Celina DeCastro, Christopher Libreros, Brandon Harrington, Max Jackson ADVISERS Neil Santaniello, Ilene Prusher, Michael Koretzky COVER PHOTO BY Max Jackson

Flying with Purpose: Men’s Basketball Preview With a record of 17-45 over the last two seasons, the men’s basketball team is ready to sprint its way to a successful season.

BY BRENDAN FEENEY | PAGE 16

New Owlets: Women’s Basketball Preview Photo by Max Jackson.

FEATURES Owls Racing Keeps the Engine Running FAU’s racing club continues its success after starting a decade ago.

BY CELINA DECASTRO | PAGE 4

Broken but Rebuilt After suffering a near-fatal gunshot wound, Alex Mera recovered despite losing part of his lung.

BY JOE PYE | PAGE 8

The Study Drug The so-called “study drug” Adderall may be hurting more than helping the college students who abuse it.

BY TUCKER BERARDI | PAGE 22

Last season, the Owls set a Conference USA record for 3-pointers and look to improve this season with the best recruiting class in Conference USA.

BY CHRISTOPHER LIBREROS | PAGE 19

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11.16.2016 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 3

FEATURES

Owls racing keeps the engine running Celina DeCastro | Contributing W riter Photos by Brando n Harrington

Owls Racin g celebrates 10 years of progress after recent success.

4 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 11.16.2016

A

fter starting in 2006, Owls Racing is still revving its engines 10 years later.

The team has come a long way from building racecars in a shed behind the Engineering West building to winning first place out of five teams on Sept. 27 in the third-annual Formula Society of Automotive Engineers Match Race in Georgia — the team’s second win this year.

As part of the tradition of working rain or shine in between classes, pulling late-night hours and making sure every piston and gasket works properly, these students make it their goal to balance time between school and building a car.

Every year, Florida Atlantic Owls Racing designs, builds and races a brand new car from scratch.

According to Thomas Kipp, the public relations and marketing lead of the organization, it takes about three months for the team to build the body of the car, 10 months to make sure the design is correct and that the vehicle is operational and an additional 2 1/2 months to test the vehicle.

The team tests its vehicle at its sponsor Fiat Chrysler’s test grounds in Naples, Florida, as well as on campus near FAU Stadium. Kipp recalls times when the roaring of the engine would cause car alarms to go off on campus, forcing encounters with FAU Police due to noise complaints.

Although they build the body of the car, they do not build the engine. According to Kipp, they purchase it from an engine builder or recycle the engine from a previous car.

When it comes to picking the drivers for competition, the team chooses six members who have put an ample amount of time and work into the car and who are able to unbuckle their seatbelt and turn off the car within five seconds.

Trent Ksionek, former president and a senior mechanical engineering major, joined Owls Racing his freshmen year and considers the team a second family.

“I believe that the friendship and memories I created with everybody there is what makes it a

very fun experience,” Ksionek said.

One of the experiences he will never forget took place this year.

During the endurance test of the team’s vehicle at a competition, the temperature dropped to 40 degrees and it started to rain and hail. Ksionek recalls how driver Stephen Lyons was “a little nervous” because the team hadn’t practiced driving in wet weather.

Despite the added pressure, there was no damage to the vehicle and the team managed to win first place.

According to Kipp, the team’s budget has grown from $6,000 to $50,000 since 2006 thanks to sponsorships and grants from FAU. Kipp said Owls Racing currently has 30 sponsorships and counting. Sponsors include FAU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, Monster Energy Drinks and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. “The more outreach we get, the more companies know about us … There is definitely a

“I learned just as much engineering-related knowledge being a part of Owls Racing as I did in the classroom.”

- Trent Ksionek, former president of Owls Racing, senior mechanical engineering major

This is one of the past race cars that was used by Owls Racing. It now sits in the lobby of the College of Engineering West.

11.16.2016 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 5

lot of sponsors that are helpful to us and building the car,” President Marco Cheraso of Owls Racing said.

According to Ksionek, sponsors help the team acquire parts and equipment, gain access to other facilities and receive advice from experienced professionals.

Cheraso said, “This year we’ve become more organized [and] reached out more to the school and sponsors.”

In 2010, Owls Racing moved from the shed to an official shop in the Engineering West building. Its current shop is located in Room 156, where the team meets every Tuesday and Friday.

“Provided we keep on the same track, and we keep reaching out more and more, I think it can only move up from here. The more we are known about … the more we get,” said Cheraso.

The president said the club’s other goal, besides gaining sponsors, is the recruitment of new members who will put in the time and effort

Inside the Owls Racing workshop, members work on the car and prepare it for races.

“We’re more than a bunch of guys in a garage building a car, we’re engineering students ... It’s going to become more well known, so that freshmen coming in actually know that we exist.”

- Steven Stanfield, suspension team leader, junior mechanical engineering major

Owls Racing members use the structure of one of their older race cars that has been taken apart to design newer ones.

6 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 11.16.2016

required to keep the team at the top.

Currently, the team is preparing for the Kennesaw State University Southeastern Invitational race in Kennesaw, Georgia at the end of February and the FSAE race in Brooklyn, Michigan from May 1013. Kipp said this gives the team a chance to show off its car, get noticed by sponsors, make a name for itself in the racing world and potentially bring home a trophy.

According to Kipp, with its travel budget, the team is able to pack up the shop in a trailer, rent minivans and make the 22-hour drive up to Michigan.

Ksionek said that while the club provides handson experience, it’s also helped him learn other important traits like time management, teamwork, attention to detail and the ability to trust others.

“I learned just as much engineering-related

knowledge being a part of Owls Racing as I did in the classroom,” said Ksionek. “Also, having the opportunity to drive a racecar at competitions is pretty fun.”

Although the club consists mostly of mechanical engineers, any major is welcome to the team.

“When I first joined, I didn’t know how much I wanted to get involved,” Cheraso said. “But the more I was part of it, eventually the thought came in the back of my head that I wanted to run the club.

I went for it and here I am.”

Cheraso added that this is the first year the team is adding a designated design portion to the workload schedule, which will reduce the amount of time it takes to manufacture the vehicle’s body.

Steven Stanfield, the suspension team leader and a junior mechanical engineering student, wants to go into racecar engineering after graduation.

“I’ve always loved racing and I hope to go into racing when I’m older,” he said. “I want to go into the mechanics on the track side, not necessarily

driving.”

Several alumni have worked as team members in IndyCar, International Supermodified Association and Corvette Racing.

Grant Browning, one of the original 2006 Owls Racing alumni, is currently working for Corvette Racing, according to Cheraso.

Stanfield said, “We’re more than a bunch of guys in a garage building a car, we’re engineering students. We’re putting a lot of time and effort into this … It’s going to become more well known, so that freshmen coming in actually know that we exist.”

An Owls Racing race car sits in the team’s workshop.

Left to right: Michael Simpson, Halle Mayne, Seth Chapman, Gabi Zamojski, Marco Cheraso, Nate Cadet, Thomas Strickland, Joshua Mesnick and Mat Burgos.

11.16.2016 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 7

FEATURES

BROKEN BUT REBUILT

Despite a near-death experience, this student veteran was able to recover and move forward.

Joe Pye | News Editor

M

oments before a sniper in Iraq shot Alex Mera through the lung, the Marine infantryman was on patrol with his platoon. He doesn’t remember what happened next, but his older brother does.

The worst phone call Denny Mera ever received lasted less than 10 minutes.

His brother Alex had been shot and was close to death. So he, his other brother Ivan and his mother Maria Isabel Nieto boarded a plane for a military hospital in Bethesda, Maryland where they expected to claim his 30-year-old brother’s body.

“Everyone was in shock, so we just grabbed whatever we could as quickly as possible and took off to the airport. The Marines had already bought the flight to go to Maryland,” said Denny. “As soon as we got there, he was just arriving from Germany.

[While] we were waiting to see him, two people from the Marines came to explain the situation and what happened. They told us he got ambushed on a regular patrol.”

The Marine is now able to walk on his own 8 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 11.16.2016

Alex Mera wears his Purple Heart medal in front of the U.S. Marine Corps and American flag.

Photo by Brandon Harrington.

and speak but spent half of his military career in recovery.

Alex, a junior Florida Atlantic exercise science major, was originally supposed to serve from 200408 in the U.S. Marine Corps Unit 2-8 Gulf Company, 3rd Platoon.

He decided to move in July of 2014 from his home in New York to South Florida to study exercise science, later becoming the president of Veteran Owls, an on-campus organization that looks to ease the transition from military to college life.

Alex looks to one day become an occupational therapist so he can help veterans who have experienced similar trauma.

Alex was in his sophomore year of high school when he saw the Sept. 11 attacks happen. Coming from a low-income family and with his future uncertain, seeing the towers fall was one of the reasons that motivated him to enlist straight out of high school.

“When I graduated from high school I didn’t have many options,” said Alex. “It was either go to work or try and go to college, and when I graduated I knew I didn’t have the maturity level [for college].

So I chose to serve my country and buy myself some time to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.”

He chose the Marines, admiring the intensity and challenge that came with being a part of that military branch.

He flew from his hometown in Brentwood, New York to Parris Island — a Marine boot camp in South Carolina — to begin his initial training, later deciding to be an infantryman.

“To me personally, boot camp was more intense mentally than physically. The physical aspects anyone can get used to, as long as you are in shape, it’s hard but nothing you can’t overcome,” said Alex.

“You hit mental fatigue … They push you to your limits to break you down and then build you back up again the way they want you.”

He served in one deployment that mainly focused on training, traveling between ports of Spain, Jordan, Israel, Dubai, Greece, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Alex arrived in Iraq on his second deployment in July of 2006. After being stationed there less than a month, he experienced his first close call with death on Aug. 6.

“I was digging sandbags and I was bitching about it. We heard shots, it kind of sounds like popping and we all got quiet. Someone said, ‘Oh shit someone is shooting at us.’ I decided to get my weapon and by the time I got inside a car, [the] bomb hit,” said Alex.

“I got knocked into the wall just as I was putting on my helmet. I was a little out of breath. My first reaction was to look around to see if everyone was all right. Everyone was, except for the driver.”

Alex Mera piled sandbags as a barrier to the bases he defended in Iraq.

Photo courtesy of Alex Mera.

Alex added, “We had been building up the sandbags specifically for that reason — sandbags can take a lot of hits. They can take the blast of a bomb which [was proved] that day, so I stopped bitching after that.”

Brandon Michael — a junior social work major at South State Northridge in Los Angeles — was part of Alex’s platoon and was with him during the attack. They had been through infantry school together at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina and used to eagerly wait for the day they would get to see action.

“We had been back in Camp Lejeune and had heard all these stories before being deployed to Iraq. We couldn’t wait to go fight, but it’s not like the movies once you go through the real deal,” said Michael. “After the [bomb] and the gun fire, we went through and [after] already losing a few Marines, your nerves are just edgy.”

Alex and Michael had made friends with another squad member who had been killed in action after being shot by a sniper. In October 2006, the pair and another 10 members of their squad were making their way back to base from a marketplace on a routine foot patrol when a similar scenario took place, only this time Alex took the hit.

“I remember passing the building to my left where

“I got up and started readjusting my gear and that’s when I got shot.

The bullet went into my right deltoid and came out [of my chest]. I went through my routine that was drilled into me. I said, ‘Marine down.’

That’s pretty much all I got out before I collapsed and started spitting up blood, immediately my lungs filled with blood.”

- Alex Mera

11.16.2016 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 9

my roommate had just passed away two days prior.

He was shot in the throat in that area,” said Alex. “I remember I was thinking about him when passing that building. I had seen the bullet holes in that wall.”

They walked another 20 feet and the patrolman in front of Alex stopped and called for them to take a knee.

“I got up and started readjusting my gear and that’s when I got shot. The bullet went into my right deltoid and came out right here,” said Alex, pointing to a scar on his chest. “I went through my routine that was drilled into me. I said, ‘Marine down.’

That’s pretty much all I got out before I collapsed and started spitting up blood, immediately my lungs filled with blood.”

Adrenaline took over and his first reaction was to try to fight back, but quickly found he was unable to.

“I tried getting out my gun and I couldn’t do anything with it without my arm hurting. It wasn’t functioning well. I could barely aim. I couldn’t rack the gun,” said Alex. “I thought, ‘I’m not doing anything there,’ so I immediately tried to pull out my smoke grenade. I took out the thumb pin but I couldn’t pull out the actual pin so I tried pulling it out with my teeth, then I rolled over.”

Michael was only three Marines behind him in rotation when the shot was fired.

“It sounded like a car backfired, and I remember everybody was kind of edgy because we knew that was what a sniper fire sounded like. As soon as we heard that, everybody just took off and started running. Someone yelled out, ‘Sniper’ and we all took cover,” said Michael. “I heard, ‘Corpsman up,’ which meant that we needed our medic so when I heard that I just thought, ‘I hope it’s not somebody I know … Oh my god who is it?’ The next thing I know, they said it was Alex.”

The corpsman on duty in their squad was Tom Kiraly, a now 31-year-old clinical manager in Roseville, Michigan. Alex was the first Marine he saved in action during his deployment.

“In training, they keep telling you that the first time you see trauma, it’s possible that you can freeze up.

My biggest fear was that I would see that and all my training would just go right out the window,” said Kiraly. “Alex kind of showed me what I could do the second he got hit and went down right away. It was go time, the stuff you train for was real and I had to do something or this guy was going to die on me.”

Kiraly heard the call for corpsman and rushed to Alex’s side, cutting his bulletproof vest from his right shoulder and folding it over in case he’d need to fold it back if they were fired at again.

“There was blood everywhere. I prevented a sucking chest wound and stabilized him [by] 10 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 11.16.2016

Alex Mera (second from right) and his Unit 2-8 Gulf Company, 3rd Platoon, group together for a photo in Iraq. Photo courtesy of Alex Mera.

keeping him on his feet while he was dealing with a lung that was trying to collapse,” said Kiraly.

Michael ran in front of the two to cover them from fire while Kiraly stabilized Alex, who was waiting for the emergency evacuation squad to show.

“The corpsman patched up Alex [and] we called back to the base and told them we had come under sniper fire, and at that point in time we threw smoke to screen our movement and make sure we didn’t get hit by another sniper,” said Michael. “We called the base and told them that we needed a medevac … and in about five or six minutes backup came … We had loaded Alex and went out to a Highly Mobile Multi-Wheeled Vehicle and they took him back to the base.”

Alex was flown to the Al-Taqaddum Air Base, an area where casualties are flown. After that, he was flown to Kuwait, then Germany and finally to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland, all while he was in a coma.

“We were expecting the worst, which it was when we got into see him. Sure enough, he looked real horrible,” said Alex’s older brother Denny. “We all were braced for the worst. They told us he might die [and] he is in a deep coma. They operated on him and he was still breathing.”

Alex was on a respirator in the intensive care

unit for four months and toward the last week, the situation took a turn for the worse when his body began to swell from the trauma.

“We thought we were going to lose him, so me and my niece were screaming at him, ‘Alex, wake up, you can’t go yet,’ and my mom came inside and said a prayer with the pastor right when we thought he was going to die,” said Denny. “They called us in and told us he was regaining consciousness and he finally opened his eyes.”

After Alex awoke from his coma, he received a Purple Heart — a U.S. military decoration given to soldiers wounded or killed in battle — from the Marines.

This marked the start of a long road to recovery and rehabilitation. He had suffered a stroke while comatose, leaving him numb on the left side of his body.

“I thought they had amputated my left arm because I couldn’t feel anything from my left side and I couldn’t raise it, so I was freaking out. They told me, ‘You’re OK, you suffered a stroke,’” Alex said. “There were tubes in my mouth, I had a trachea tube and I was on a respirator. That’s pretty much where I spent three months ... in [the] ICU listening to the sound of the respirator and other beeping from the machines.”

“I was much more cynical when I was younger. I’ve heard a lot that after I got shot, I changed a lot. That day I made my decision if I die, I die.

So I don’t stress about it now. I do think about my friends who didn’t make it back, like my roommate. We can easily be switched around, with him sitting here talking to you.”

Alex Mera’s vest was covered in blood after he was shot through the right deltoid and lung.

Photo courtesy of Alex Mera.

After those three months in the ICU, he was transferred to Hunter Holmes Mcguire Veterans Administration Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, where he spent another two months doing physical therapy. There, he learned to walk again.

After struggling to sit up in bed without passing out, Alex learned to walk with a support belt. He later transitioned to using a walker, followed by crutches and was finally able to use a cane.

“It was heartbreaking seeing what he was going through, how he couldn’t walk, he couldn’t speak or eat, yet everyday little by little he finally regained his spirit. [That’s how] you know he’s a fighter,” said Denny. “Everyone was saying what a miracle he was [when] he came out of ICU, [how he] was basically dead [and] now he’s in physical therapy.

They gave him the release and that was the best day that we had all felt in a long time.”

After getting his release for outpatient recovery, Alex returned home to New York. Unsure of what to do with his future, he dealt with depression and emotional stress.

“There was a lot of shit that went down emotionally … can you imagine just having your body broken, your career’s over because I couldn’t be an infantryman anymore,” said Alex.

“Cognitively, I had a stroke so I was pretty slow and

- Alex Mera

everything else was just crumbling around me, so it was a tough time and I was still kind of sensitive to the environment around me. I think overall I did all right because I had my family as a support system.”

Alex decided to go back to school with the remainder of his six months in the Marine Corps.

He took basic courses in algebra and English, but wasn’t fully comfortable yet with the college atmosphere.

He then went to technical school to learn aviation mechanics at Wilson Tech in Farmingdale, New York, learning skills that would enable him to get a job as an aircraft technician with the GEICO Skytypers Air Show Team.

“My first real job was working for an airshow team, so it was great,” said Alex. “I went back to college in 2013 due to my injuries holding [me] back from completing my tasks at work.”

However, tuition was expensive in New York, and through traveling with the airshow team, he made his way to South Florida.

He bought a house and attended Palm Beach State College until he graduated with his associate degree. He later applied to FAU and was accepted in spring of 2016.

“I decided to study exercise science. My goal is to become an occupational therapist and help other

veterans the way I was helped,” said Alex. “I have a unique perspective of what they went through and what they’re going through. I had such a good experience with my [Veterans Affairs] doctors and therapists. I like them and what they do so I wanted to help other people. I think it will be a good fit for me.”

People who are close to Alex note that he has changed because of his experiences in the Marines and that he has become more humble and accepting of his life.

“I was much more cynical when I was younger. I’ve heard a lot that after I got shot, I changed a lot,” said Alex. “That day I made my decision if I die, I die.

So I don’t stress about it now. I do think about my friends who didn’t make it back, like my roommate.

We can easily be switched around, with him sitting here talking to you.”

11.16.2016 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 11

SPORTS

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME Jailyn Ingram’s lifelong love for basketball outweighed opportunities to play football at prestigious programs.

Hans Belot Jr. | Contributing Writer

Jailyn Ingram received offers to play at Michigan and Florida State, among other schools.

Photo courtesy of 247Sports.

Jailyn Ingram scored over 2,000 career points at Morgan County High School. Photo courtesy of Cynthia Knight.

Jailyn Ingram prepares to catch the ball while running a drill that forces the players to shoot while fatigued. Photo by Max Jackson.

12 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 11.16.2016

L

Jailyn Ingram dunks during a high school playoff game in March of 2016. Photo courtesy of Kent D. Johnson/Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“He just went out there and played ball. It was more or less, ‘My teammates are not giving me the opportunity, so I’ll take them under my wings and go.’”

- Allison Peoples, Jailyn Ingram’s mother

eading by a touchdown in the middle of the second quarter on a Friday night in 2014, Morgan County High School Bulldogs marched down the football field to set up shop at Putnam County’s 10-yard line.

The Bulldogs quarterback dropped back and had his eyes set on the left side of the field where a 6-foot-7 wide receiver was being closely covered.

The quarterback launched it to the receiver, who was playing in the second football game of his entire life.

The receiver jumped up and grabbed the ball with one hand over the defender — who was attempting to push him out of bounds — and came down inbounds to put Morgan County up 14-0 en route to a 42-6 blowout.

This 6-foot-7 kid’s name was Jailyn Ingram, a newcomer to this year’s Florida Atlantic basketball team.

“I don’t care who you are, or what college you were going to play for, nobody was going to stop him from catching that ball,” said Morgan County head football coach Bill Malone. “It was just the second game of the year and we realized, ‘Wow, this guy’s got some skills.’”

A year and a half later, that same 6-foot-7 kid was playing in perhaps one of the biggest games of his life — a state championship basketball game between Morgan County and Jenkins High School.

In what would be his last high school basketball game, Ingram scored 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to a 66-56 win.

“It looked to be effortless,” said Jamond Sims, Ingram’s head basketball coach at Morgan County.

“Those are the moments that make you realize you have a special player.”

A year earlier, the same Jenkins team was the one celebrating at the expense of Morgan County, despite Ingram scoring 20 points while also adding eight rebounds and three blocks.

He converted an and-one 3-point play to tie the game at 60 in the final seconds, but not before a last-second layup broke the hearts of the Bulldogs.

For Ingram, beating Jenkins in 2016 wasn’t about revenge.

“He just went out there and played ball,” said Ingram’s mother, Allison Peoples, who saw that it was up to Ingram to win the game. “It was more or less, ‘My teammates are not giving me the opportunity, so I’ll take them under my wings and go.’”

Ingram grew up in Madison, Georgia, a small town located 60 miles east of Atlanta. With a population of less than 4,000, Ingram said that everyone knew 11.16.2016 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 13

each other.

“It’s a very humble town,” Ingram said. “[There’s] not too many people there, so everyone is family.”

Ingram began playing basketball when he was still a baby. His mom set up a hoop for him while he was still in the crib.

“He would be in his crib, sitting there trying to throw the basketball into the hoop,” Peoples said, smiling when recalling the experience. “The older he got, he started to use his walker to get around the house. He would use his walker to walk around the hallway while he was shooting the basketball.”

Years later, his white headband and combination of flashy dunks, alley-oops, fearless drives to the bucket and pull-up jumpers made No. 15 stand out on his high school basketball team.

“He is one of the most versatile and selfless individuals you could have on a team,” Sims said.

“He’s always one who will think about the overall outcome of the game [over] stats. He can defend multiple positions because of his length and quickness, and he’s just special.”

Ingram was already attracting attention from Division I colleges when Malone finally got him to try football his junior year.

“We were trying to get him out since the [9th] grade,” Malone said. “It wasn’t that we didn’t try, we just couldn’t get him to come out. I believe he had some friends on the [football] team that were major influences, and we were able to get him his 11th grade year.”

It turned out that putting the ball in the hoop wasn’t the only thing Ingram could do well. He could also catch passes from quarterbacks.

He did so well, in fact, that it only took two years for Ingram to attract some of the biggest names in college football. According to 247Sports, Michigan University, the current No. 2 ranked team in the nation, sent Jay Harbaugh, positions coach and son of head coach Jim Harbaugh, to visit Ingram.

Florida State, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech and North Carolina State all offered Ingram a spot on their football team. Florida State and Michigan have 14 combined national championships, while FAU basketball has only made one national tournament appearance in 23 years.

Although he considered every college team that sent him recruiting letters, football was never where his heart was. It was all about the sport he began playing in his crib.

“It’s just my love for the game,” Ingram said.

For basketball, Ingram was recruited by Florida State, Auburn, Georgia, Georgia State, Tennessee, Alabama and University Florida.

14 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 11.16.2016

The dual athlete’s 6-7 frame offered mismatched advantages for Morgan County football. Photo courtesy of 247Sports.

Morgan County football coaches tried to get Jailyn Ingram to play since his freshman year before he finally took the field as a junior. Photo courtesy of 247Sports.

Despite the interest from the bigger schools, however, FAU always topped Ingram’s list.

“I became a part of this program because it was a family-oriented program,” he said.

“I love that and the atmosphere here.”

Ingram’s FAU teammates look past him being a freshman. Sophomore small forward Jeantal Cylla said he was able to come in and play right away.

“He’s made a huge impact,” Cylla said.

“Jailyn’s a guy that can play multiple positions, we expect great things out of him.”

Ingram wants to be successful on and off the court at FAU. In the classroom, he wants his GPA to be a 3.8. On the court, he wants his team to reach unfamiliar heights. “[I] definitely want to win a conference championship and to make an appearance in the NCAA tournament,” Ingram said.

For Peoples, however, her goals for Ingram are even further in the future.

“I say the NBA,” said Peoples. “Of course, I would want him to play for the Miami Heat any day.”

Jailyn Ingram watches the ball go in the hoop during preseason practice. Photo by Max Jackson.

11.16.2016 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 15

SPORTS

FLYING WITH PURPOSE

Men’s Basketball Preview Florida Atlantic is preparing to quicken its pace in Michael Curry’s third season as head coach.

Brendan Feeney | Sports Editor Photos by Mohammed Emran

Sophomore forward Jeantal Cylla averaged 14.1 points per game over the team’s final 13 games last season.

16 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 11.16.2016

T

he players lined up under the basket with their hands on their knees, gasping for air. Sweat dripped down to the hardwood court as 18 seconds were added to the clock.

Florida Atlantic looked to be in the middle of its hardest-fought battle, yet no opponent graced the court at FAU Arena that early November night.

Head coach Michael Curry stood courtside as half of his team stepped up to the baseline, shifted their weight into a runner’s stance and awaited the call.

They proceeded to run to half court and back, then the full length of the court and back, in 18 seconds.

Their reward?

An 18-second break while the other half of the team ran.

“If you don’t get back, you let everybody down,” Curry yelled.

His message was simple. Get back on defense and don’t make your teammates pick up the slack.

During the previous practice, players failed to get back on defense eight times, Senior guard Adonis Filer will be taking over the sophomore forward Jeantal Cylla said. role as the first Owl off the bench.

“We have a policy, you have to get back on defense,” he said. “Last practice it was unacceptable … [not] getting back, that’s giving the season conditioning. “But we look forward other team a chance to make a layup. So we have 18 to it because the team that’s in better seconds to make it down and back.” shape has a higher percentage of winning.”

Those 18-second sprints are just part of the Cylla, who is one of four returning conditioning the team is facing this season. The starters, will be relied on to help reach purpose is to get the team in prime conditioning that 80-point goal. He started his freshman shape in the hopes of being able to fit into Curry’s season on the slower side — though he ideal playing style. scored 18 points in his second collegiate The current team offers the personnel needed to game, he only averaged 5.6 points per play a fast-paced game that did not complement game in his first 12.

Curry’s roster during his first two years as coach.

The freshman later began to find his “I came in with ideas of how I wanted to play, but I rhythm, averaging nine points per game didn’t think we had the personnel to play that way, over the next six games before exploding so I adjusted to the personnel,” Curry said. “So we onto the scene with 47 points in two games kind of played more possession basketball, a little against UTEP and UTSA. slower than I would’ve liked.”

Over the final 13 games, Cylla averaged The slower tempo led to few turnovers on defense 14.1 points per game.

— the Owls forced the fourth fewest in Conference “Last year in the beginning, I was a little USA a season ago — as well as the conference’s timid, a little freshman,” the sophomore second-lowest scoring offense. said. “But I got to get to know to the game Hoping to improve on those marks this year, Curry a little bit more, got a little confidence … I says his team will be more up-tempo and more want to be able to continue the momentum aggressive defensively. One of the team’s goals is I had, the confidence to go through my to score 80 points per game, a 13.7 jump from last whole sophomore year.” year’s average.

Joining Cylla in the starting lineup again Running and conditioning is the flight path the this season will be sophomore guard Owls are choosing to reach their goal.

Nick Rutherford and junior center Ronald “I’m not going to lie, it’s hard,” Cylla said of early Delph.

Junior center Ronald Delph led the team in rebounds and blocks despite missing the team’s first eight games.

11.16.2016 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 17

Delph — a 7-footer who led last year’s team in blocks, rebounds and points per game — had to sit out the first half of last season due to transfer rules. This season he will be tasked with providing the Owls with an interior presence on both sides of the ball and is eager to play right away.

“This year I’m coming in first half of the season trying to set a tone,” Delph said.

“It’s going to be better because I don’t have to find a rhythm in the middle of the season.”

New to the starting lineup will be junior guard Frank Booker — who had to sit out last season after transferring from Oklahoma — and junior forward William Pfister.

Booker will join Rutherford and senior guard Adonis Filer as the team’s captains.

Filer, a starter on last year’s team, will take on the new role of being the first man off the bench.

“Our thing is, what’s going to get everybody to be the most effective?” Curry asked. “One of the things we always said is that guy coming off the bench, that backup Sophomore guard Nick Rutherford will be one of point guard, has to be aggressive and has the team’s captains for the second-straight year. to be able to shoot the ball with good efficiency.”

Last season that role belonged to Marquan other than the fact that you’re competing.”

Botley, who led the team in points on five separate His players apparently didn’t read anything into occasions. Filer, who scored the most points in 11 the rankings either. Cylla said that the goal is still a games a year ago, will bring experience to a second championship and his center agreed. unit that will feature three newcomers to this “I think that’s the only thing that can make [this year’s team. season] a success, honestly,” Delph said.

Surrounding him with shooters like junior Gerdarius Troutman, who shot 52.6 percent from the 3-point line last year at Gordon State College and freshman forward Jailyn Ingram, who scored over 2,000 points during his high school career, will allow Filer to be more aggressive driving the ball to the basket, helping the team reach its goal of 80 Jackson Trapp: The Orlando-native points per game, which comes back to tempo. guard started 42 out of 60 games in his “We got to play faster, we got to score more first two years at FAU. As a junior and points,” Cylla said. “If you score 80 points, majority senior, Trapp started all 59 of the Owls of the time you’re going to win, so that’s been the games. He led last year’s team in minutes goal this year. You got to play faster for 80.” played, 3-pointers made and capped off a The 80-point goal is how the team sees 24-point comeback victory with a buzzeritself reaching its ultimate goal, a conference championship. That goal is something that other beating 3-pointer. coaches in Conference USA don’t see feasible, as Marquan Botley: Often facing early FAU was picked to finish 12th out of 14 teams. deficits, Botley became a spark off Curry said he didn’t really care about the rankings, the bench, igniting the team with his and thinks that his players shouldn’t either. microwave-quick ability to heat up. He “I was here, I got my tail kicked, so I don’t need a reminder,” said the coach. “What we try to do with scored 24 points in the lone conference our guys too is not needing anything for motivation tournament win.

KEY DEPARTURES

18 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 11.16.2016

Sophomore forward Jesse Hill scored a career-high 22 points last December against the University of Central Florida.

FEATURES

NEW OWLETS Women’s Basketball Preview

The next chapter in the program features the No. 1 recruiting class in the conference.

Christopher Libreros | Contributing Writer Photos by Mohammed Emran

11.16.2016 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 19

F

or the Florida Atlantic women’s basketball team, last year’s 7974 defeat in the first round of the Conference USA tournament against North Texas closed the door on a potential trip to the NCAA tournament.

This year, that door is open for redemption to the next era of women’s basketball at FAU, as the conference’s best freshman class comes to Boca Raton looking to make an immediate impact on the Owls.

These incoming freshmen include British Columbia All-Star and District MVP Jacey Bailey, sectional champions in Indiana at Noblesville High School Alexis Shannon and Katelyn O’Reilly, as well as Julia Jenike and Tyana Robinson, both of whom are members of the 1,000-point club in their respective schools.

All are ready to help contribute to the team alongside Vashnie Perry, a player who led her high school in Norcross, Georgia, to one of the top five teams in the state with a 77-16 overall record.

Going into her final season, Kat Wright is “I’m going to bring as much as I can to looking to set the program’s all-time 3-point make us great,” Perry said. “I want to leave record. this school with a name … I want FAU to know that the women’s basketball team is not boring … We’re going to have a name at “I’ve kind of been in this position for a the end of the day.” while now … I think the biggest thing is The all-state first teamer and member of the just that I had to learn a lot,” Wright said.

1,000-point club was highly recruited for her “That’s a really long process, trying to defensive intensity. However, Perry believes her figure out how to get everyone on the same talents stretch beyond the defensive side of the page and get everyone to want to win as floor and she wants to impact the offensive side of much as I do. But I will say that it’s pretty the ball as well. easy with this team. I think you see a lot of Her teammates — including the veteran leader of team chemistry with these girls.” this year’s team, senior forward Kat Wright — want To Wright, the most fulfilling thing to Perry to be aggressive as well. accomplish in her last year, aside from “[Perry] is in my opinion, unguardable,” Wright what happens on the court, is leaving a said, noting her belief in the rookie to act as the lasting impact on the younger players. team’s floor general. “She’s so quick and she brings “They’re the future of this program after a new aspect to the defensive side of things which I’m gone,” Wright said. is something we need.”

Head coach Kellie Lewis-Jay hopes that Wright is looking to prove herself as well. Last future is predicated on defense. year, she was the team’s second leading scorer at Last year, the Owls gave up 70.5 points 11.7 points per game as she entered rarified air per game, the third worst in the conference. with 87 3-point makes in a season, the second most This year, Lewis-Jay wants this team to go in team history. from the bottom five to the top five.

Moving into position as one of the team’s primary “We’ve been working on extending our scorers, Wright is only 76 3-pointers away from ball pressure, becoming more of a full court breaking the all-time career record this year. She team again defensively,” she said. “Defense is embracing her role as the team’s lone senior as is a team thing, and understanding where she takes over as the veteran leader of the Owls everybody is supposed to be, hoping that this year following the departures of Ali Gorrell and everybody is going to be there, trusting Morgan Robinson.

20 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 11.16.2016

Malia Kency averaged 5.2 points per game last season as a sophomore.

that everybody’s going to be there is big, so we’ve been working on that a lot.”

As a team that just barely missed being one of the top 10 3-point shooting teams in the nation after setting a new conference record with 294 made 3-pointers, FAU’s offense plans to further embrace its identity by building its offense as a three-point shooting team. ”That’s what we’re good at, that’s what our offense is based around, and I think we’re a better 3-point shooting team this year than we were last year,” Lewis-Jay said.

However, the coach believes this team is still capable of more.

Lewis-Jay challenged her post players to become inside threats this year as defenses will look to take away the three-point line.

“They should have a lot of open looks down low for one-on-one situations and that’s something we’ve really been working on,” Lewis-Jay said.

When combined with some of the acquired freshmen being capable of slashing toward the basket, she believes this team is well versed.

“I think we’re more versatile than we were last year in some aspects and a better student team,” said the coach.

No matter what outsiders may say, this group believes it is capable of greatness.

“I love this group. They make me feel so comfortable, every single day,” Perry said. “I think we can go farther than whatever we think we can go … I think we can go to [the] NCAA tournament and make great things happen.”

KEY DEPARTURES

Alison Gorrell: The Colorado native led the team in points, rebounds, assists and steals a season ago. In the team’s final game of the season, she matched her career-high 30 points in only 20 minutes of work during the second half of a losing effort in the Conference USA tournament.

Morgan Robinson: This Northern Florida talent was a model of reliability, missing only one game out of 119 in her collegiate career. Last year, she averaged double figures for the lady Owls, scoring 10.2 points per game.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Nov. 11 v s. Texas State in Honolulu, Hawaii

Nov. 11 vs. Florida Memorial

SCHEDULE

Nov. 13 v s. Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville in Honolulu Nov. 15 at Hawaii Nov. 20 vs. Edward Waters Nov. 22 vs. South Florida Nov. 29 at Tennessee-Martin Dec. 3 vs. Hofstra

SCHEDULE Nov. 14 vs. Indiana State Nov. 18 at Mercer Nov. 20 at North Florida

Nov. 25 vs. Jacksonville State (FAU Thanksgiving Tournament) Nov. 26 vs. Richmond/Florida A&M (FAU Thanksgiving Tournament) Dec. 1 at Arizona

Dec. 6 at Ohio State

Dec. 4 at Grand Canyon

Dec. 16 at Miami

Dec. 11 vs. Florida Gulf Coast

Dec. 21 vs. Webber International

Dec. 16 vs. Jackson State (FAU Holiday Tournament)

Dec. 28 vs. Florida Gulf Coast Jan. 2 vs. Marshall

Dec. 17 vs. Maryland Eastern Shore/ St. Francis (FAU Holiday Tournament)

Jan. 7 vs. Florida International

Dec. 30 at Western Kentucky

Jan. 12 at Texas - San Antonio

Jan. 1 at Marshall

Jan. 14 at Texas - El Paso

Jan. 7 at Florida International

Jan. 19 vs. Alabama - Birmingham

Jan. 12 vs. Texas - San Antonio

Jan. 21 vs. Middle Tennessee

Jan. 14 vs. Texas - El Paso

Jan. 26 at Florida International

Jan. 19 at Alabama - Birmingham

Feb. 2 at Charlotte

Jan. 21 at Middle Tennessee

Dec. 31 vs. Western Kentucky

Feb. 4 at Old Dominion Feb. 9 vs. North Texas Feb. 11 vs. Rice Feb. 16 at Louisiana Tech Feb. 18 at Southern Miss Feb. 23 vs. Texas - El Paso Feb. 25 vs. Texas - San Antonio March 2 at Alabama - Birmingham March 4 at Middle Tennessee

Jan. 26 vs. Florida International Feb. 2 vs. Charlotte Feb. 4 vs. Old Dominion Feb. 9 at North Texas Feb. 11 at Rice Feb. 16 vs. Louisiana Tech Feb. 18 vs. Southern Miss Feb. 23 at Texas - El Paso Feb. 25 at Texas - San Antonio March 2 vs. Alabama - Birmingham March 4 vs. Middle Tennessee 11.16.2016 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 21

FEATURES

THE STUDY DRUG

Adderall has become one of the easiest stimulants for college students to abuse, and it may do more harm than good.

Tucker Berardi | Features Editor Photos by Patrick Delaney

22 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 11.16.2016

BY THE NUMBERS

Recreational Adderall use could lead to abusing harder drugs.

Full-time college students that abuse Adderall versus those that don’t are ...

44.9% 28.9% 24.5%

8.7%

3.6% 3%

COCAINE 8 times more likely to abuse cocaine

impact,” Gill said. “After a while, people need to increase dosage as they chase heightened dopamine levels. It changes their mood base.”

“These students … may not understand the risks,” Gill continued.

For some students, the extra help with studying may be worth the side effects. However, contrary to these students’ beliefs, several studies have shown that taking Adderall may not increase GPA at all.

“Prescription stimulants do promote wakefulness, but studies have found that they do not enhance learning or thinking ability when taken by people who do not actually have ADHD,” reads a study on ADHD medicine by DrugAbuse.gov. “Also, research has shown that students who abuse prescription stimulants actually have lower GPAs in high school and college than those who don’t.”

Adderall may have negative effects on nonmedical users as well as on students’ GPA. But what makes Adderall so dangerous is how easy it is to get on college campuses.

Briana said, “It has the same effect as speed and it’s so easy to get prescribed. And if you don’t have a prescription, it’s so easy to find someone with pills.”

Did not

I

n her sophomore year of college at Florida Atlantic, Mary. C told her doctor that she sometimes had problems focusing on schoolwork. Five hours later, she filled her prescription of Adderall at her local CVS. “I’ve never been diagnosed with [attention deficit disorder] or ADHD,” the 24-year-old graduate said.

“I went to [a walk-in clinic] for a cold and said I needed Adderall, [the doctor] prescribed it right there.”

The drug is used to treat narcolepsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, known as ADHD. According to Drugs.com, Adderall contains amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, which are stimulants that affect chemicals in the brain and nerves that contribute to hyperactivity and impulse control. Amphetamine is also the main component in crystal meth.

Adderall is a highly addictive Schedule II drug which puts it in the same category as cocaine, according to Quartz magazine.

Mary’s story is not uncommon — many college students have prescriptions for Adderall, also known as the “study drug,” that they take in order to improve focus and increase productivity to better their grades. ”These drugs are an unhealthy alternative to teaching students to manage themselves. Instead of reinforcing study habits and time management, we prescribe medicine to do it for them,” Carman Gill, FAU associate professor for the department of counselor education, said. “It’s easier to pop pills than go to counseling.”

Senior biology major Briana M. was diagnosed with ADHD and has an Adderall prescription, but says that she has seen it abused by peers and understands why taking the drug can be so addictive.

“I think, honest to God, most people would take Adderall like a drug,” Briana said.

Both Mary and Briana said that they have been approached by friends wanting to buy Adderall from them.

“I’m not going to lie,” Mary said. “I have sold pills before.”

With all of the stresses that come with college, it can be easy to justify taking a stimulant to help boost productivity.

“The increasing abuse of Adderall has more to do with the misfortunes of society — the overwhelming amount of pressure put on students

due to the standards that are rising for them every year.” Minju Park, a columnist for the University of Illinois’ independent paper, The Daily Illini, wrote in October.

According to DrugWatch.com, “Full-time college students ages 18 to 22 were twice as likely to abuse Adderall as those of the same age not in college.”

Many students don’t see the harm in recreationally using Adderall to study more efficiently, but the drug can lead to some negative effects if not taken as treatment for ADHD. Quartz magazine states that short-term effects include insomnia, increased blood pressure, irregular heart beat, appetite suppression, headaches, dry mouth and anxiety.

“Long usage [of Adderall] will certainly impact brain chemistry, we know that a drug of this level will have a long-term

Abused Adderall

Some students’ names were changed to protect their identities.

TRANQUILIZERS PAIN RELIEVERS 8 times more likely to abuse prescription tranquilizers

8 times more likely to abuse prescription pain relievers

Source: 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health

The student pharmacy distributes Adderall to students with a prescription. The pharmacy is located in the Student Union.

11.16.2016 / UNIVERSITY PRESS / 23

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