Owen Aquino named FCSAA Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Eastern Florida State College sophomore Owen Aquino could have never imagined having this type of season for the Eastern Florida State College men's basketball team.
Aquino was named the FCSAA Player of the Year on Tuesday after averaging 15 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 29 games this season, helping the Titans to a 26-4 record and the Citrus Conference title.
"I wasn't expecting any of this, I have never gotten those kind of awards, but you know, I can get used to it," Aquino said.
He needs to start getting used to it as his game has reached new levels in his sophomore season with the Titans.
The Madrid, Spain native began to believe he could take his game to another level last summer when he was invited to play with the Spain Under 20 national team at the European Championship in Greece.
"Playing with the national team was big for me, you are one of the best in the country so it showed me, OK I can do this," Aquino said. "Coming from last year, I was not even expecting them to call me and so to get the call and play with that team was special."
The power forward averaged 4.7 points and 3.4 rebounds in the seven games for Spain and while he is the first to admit the team didn't play great, the experience helped catapult him into being one of the leaders on the Titans team.
"I played against the top guys in Europe, when you are on that level, you just start to believe you are one of them now and it gives you confidence," Aquino said.
That confidence poured into this season with the Titans as Aquino had 15 points or more in 16 of his 29 games this season and had over 20 five times, scoring 29 points twice this season. The 6'8 forward had one triple double and nine double-doubles this season, shooting 60 percent from the floor this season.
"I have never been a scoring guy, I am just trying to help the team in any way I can," Aquino said. "I would rather play defense than score, but this year coach has given me the confidence and so I am trying to do everything. I love to pass, watching someone else score from a pass feels just as good to me."
Basketball has been a part of Aquino's life since he was born as his father, Ray Aquino, played professionally and Owen began playing when he was four or five and started to believe he was good at it when he was 12. He played for the Spain Under 16 national team in the European Championships in 2019.
"I was raised watching my dad play in the second league in Spain. It has always been basketball – nothing else," Aquino said.
Aquino and the Titans will open the FCSAA/Region VIII Men's Basketball Championship as the No. 1 seed and will play No. 8 seed Hillsborough Community College Wednesday night at 7 p.m. eastern time at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville.