A solid passer with a smooth shooting stroke, 6’3″ sophomore guard Dylan O’Sullivan enjoyed a successful high school campaign at Fort Lauderdale’s St. Thomas Aquinas, where he posted averages of 16.5 points and six assists during his senior year. He enters the 2010-11 season hoping to up his playing time after a freshman campaign in which he appeared in 10 games while contributing a season-high four minutes against Florida Tech. To enable that, Owls’ Coach Mike Jarvis is asking that O’Sullivan place emphasis on developing his game without the ball. “Coach is telling me defense will get me on the court”, he said. O’Sullivan comes to Florida Atlantic as a “preferred walk-on”, meaning money isn’t given to attend school but the benefits of team membership are the same. Having had multiple offers to play elsewhere at the Division I and II levels, O’Sullivan still settled on FAU as a best choice given close proximity to home and the chance to play for a storied coach. “It was a hard decision to make because those schools wanted me more, but Coach Jarvis grabbed my attention” O’Sullivan said. On a personal note, O’Sullivan says he suffers from Arachnophobia . “I’m really scared of spiders…can’t remember one experience (when younger)…just remember every time I saw them I had to get as far away as I can.” Recently, he sat down with us for “Up Close”. Fast Break What is your Favorite Book? ” Holes ” What is your Favorite Movie? ” Half Baked ” Who is your current off the court role model? “My mother, just the way she carries herself and lives.” How long have you been playing basketball? “Basically my whole life, since I was four(15 years). I had a feeling for it right away.” What are you most proud of? “The fact that I am a student athlete, am good in the classroom, and play basketball. Both of those together ” What is your major? “I haven’t declared, but I am leaning towards business. Probably something in finance.” What is your Faith? “Christian.” Set Plays Other than FAU, what schools did you consider? “North Florida, Campbell, Stonehill College & Assumption College.” What aspect of your game do you feel is your strength? “I would say just being a smart player overall. Pretty good passer, and a pretty good shooter.” What aspect of your game do you feel is your weakness? “Step up defensively…I’ve got to get better on defense.” Open Run Besides basketball, what brought you to FAU? “It helped because I had a Bright Futures (scholarship) in Florida.” What do you want FAU fans to know about you personally? “I like to hang out and try to be relaxed when I’m off the court. Sometimes I play video games with some of my teammates. We play NBA Live .” What are your goals for the upcoming season? “First it would be just classroom, trying to keep all A’s and B’s, and then basketball wise I want to do whatever I can to help the team. For right now…get some minutes, show everyone what I can do, then build upon that.” Coming Up Our next player writes left handed, but shoots with the right.
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