Two weeks ago, Florida Atlantic’s Xavian Stapleton sported a bright white headband as he navigated the baseline and deposited contested 3-pointers throughout practice in Boca Raton, Fla.
The headband, with an Adidas logo emblazoned on the front, is not all the seasoned Stapleton will wear during the grad transfer’s final collegiate season.
With his wealth of experience on big stages, Stapleton will wear the title of leader for a youth-laden Owls team that includes just two seniors.
He will surely wear the onus of tone-setter, a guy who leads by example and provides the veteran toughness on which the new-look Owls feed off.
He’ll additionally wear a fragment of the hope FAU invested in turning around a previously downtrodden program.
First year head coach Dusty May, who supplanted Michael Curry in March, is entertaining expectations of changing the culture.
The desire from within is to mold men’s basketball into a bellwether program on the sprawling South Florida campus.
With his pro-ready 6-foot-7, 205-pound frame and ability to hit deep 3-pointers and soar to the rim, Stapleton is now a main source easing the staff’s blink-quick transition.
“My role this year, I’ll take on more of a leadership role by guiding the young guys and teaching them the ropes,” said Stapleton, who has displayed NBA 3-point range and a nifty arsenal that includes stepbacks, pull-ups and a transition 3-pointer.
“Of course, I take on the role of being one of our primary scorers. Just being a playmaker overall, that’s where my focus is. Being the best basketball player I can be.”
May and then-head coach Mike White (currently at Florida) initially penned Stapleton while on staff at Louisiana Tech.
When White took the U of F position during the spring of Stapleton’s freshman year at La. Tech, Stapleton’s initiative was to follow his coach over to Gainesville.
Controversy soon followed.
Lousiana Tech blocked the transfer, as they would not release Stapleton from his scholarship.
It ultimately created a tumultuous situation, one which resulted in tension and animosity from both sides.
Stapleton saw himself as blocked from 50+ potential Division-1 destinations. It ultimately led him to pursue legal action against the school.
He would eventually find his way to Mississippi State.
“That whole thing at Tech was too long ago and too tucked away in the past to even think about,” said Stapleton.
“I’m here now. Coach May is like family to me. He’s the same guy he was five years ago. He’s never changed. He’s been loyal to me all the way through. I’m going to be loyal the same way to him.”
Making good on his loyalty to May will entail Stapleton going beyond the alpha male and locker room presence role. It will also entail keeping his cool during tense moments.
As he showed several times at Mississippi State, Stapleton has a knack for hitting clutch shots.
Steering the pressure cooker with crunch time production mirror Stapleton’s elder statesman image.
Stapleton’s time at Mississippi State could best be described as a series of ups and downs. He displayed stability during four NIT games last year, averaging 9.7 points as a supplementary piece. He had bouts with inconsistent production and ultimately became exasperated while playing out of position.
A 15-point performance against Baylor along with an 18-point performance against Vanderbilt (on the strength of 5-for-5 from beyond the arc) are each a portent of contributions Stapleton could offer at the Conference-USA level.
Stapleton called it a blessing to play under Ben Howland at Mississippi State. The experience enhanced his knowledge of the game and tuned up his shot consistency, as he explained.
Ultimately, however, he felt having to play the four there put a real straitjacket on his style and make-up and capabilities.
“I wanted to be able to play my game, especially it being my last year,” Stapleton explained. “It was tough saying goodbye to people over there. But it was business, it was a business decision.”
If Stapleton can continue to seize the leadership reins of this team and cement his status as a prolific scorer, other business decisions (the kind typically made on a hot late June evening) could potentially be invested in him.
