Fauss Primed to Return Emory Hoops to Playoffs

Even more than seven months later, it’s hard to not dwell on what transpired at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis last April 5.

The Division III (DIII) men’s basketball national championship was on the line, and Emory was on the cusp of making program history on the home floor of the Indiana Pacers after storming back from a 13-point deficit within the final five minutes of regulation to even the score at 73. It was an astounding comeback, capped by a game-tying three-pointer from then-junior Ethan Fauss with 10.9 seconds remaining, but one that fell excruciatingly short as the University of Mary Washington cashed in on a buzzer-beating tip-in layup to secure the 75-73 win.

Though the 2025-26 season didn’t culminate with a jubilant mid-court celebration with index fingers hoisted towards the rafters, the five March Madness wins did secure Emory a No. 4 national ranking for the 2026-27 season, which kicked off this past Monday evening against Piedmont at the Woodruff PE Center Arena. And just like last year’s Eagles team, the current edition is leaning heavily on Fauss, who in late October was tabbed a First-Team Preseason All-American by D3hoops.com. The St. Louis native, who in 27 games as a starting power forward last winter averaged 15.0 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, became just the seventh player in Emory men’s basketball history to be selected as a D3hoops.com Preseason All-American.

“A little bit of excitement, a little bit of gratitude, but mainly motivation,” Fauss reflected on how he felt receiving the prestigious honor when speaking to the AJT last week. “When you get an award like that, it is really cool to be recognized in that light. It gives me a sense of, ‘It’s time to go prove it.’ It’s time to go show people why I was given that award. But that doesn’t come with me taking any extra shots or taking bad shots or doing things that I wouldn’t normally do out of our system.”

Though Fauss is now one of the premier big men in all of Division III this season, it hasn’t been a straight line trajectory to stardom. As a freshman, it took him several games to crack the starting five. By season’s end, he was benched and the following season, he only averaged nine minutes per game. But as a junior, he made a mammoth leap to lead the charge for an Emory team that came one basket away from taking home its first-ever national title.

“I felt like I worked my butt off, and the results weren’t showing. And it just kept spiraling and spiraling,” Fauss acknowledged about his underclass years. “I feel like I really needed that experience to help change my perspective from a ‘Why is this happening to me?’ [and] blaming people around me, instead of looking in at myself. And I think that’s really helped me grow as an individual in all aspects of life. Now when things get hard, I look to me first. I think that’s something I didn’t have before I came here.”

As a senior gearing up for his final season of college hoops — he has a post-graduation job lined up at the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company but still hopes to play basketball in some capacity — Fauss is one of three Emory captains piloting an underclass-laden roster, which includes his little brother and frontcourt mate, Eli Fauss. But the elder Fauss doesn’t necessarily equate the captaincy to a hierarchical role. Conversely, he feels there’s a lot of knowledge to soak up from his teammates merely months removed from lighting up high school gymnasiums on Friday evenings.

“I think everyone on our team is a leader in their own right,” said captain Fauss. “I learn from the freshmen. I’m 22, they’re 18, but I still take things from them that I see. We have 16 dudes who love to be in the gym. Our love for basketball keeps us going, regardless of a win or a loss in that situation [national title].”

Of course, there’s no way to forget “that situation.” Emory was on the verge of mounting a miraculous comeback — perhaps one that, had it come to fruition, would have garnered national attention — only to fall just short. So, as Fauss and the rest of the Eagles checked into training camp under their estimable veteran head coach, Jason Zimmerman, this fall, there was no commemorative championship banner hanging from the rafters. A stark reminder of what could have been — but what is also still very much attainable.

“As you get farther away from it [national championship game], you become more appreciative of it as a whole,” said Fauss. “Obviously, right when it happens, it’s really hard. It’s still hard. I think about it a lot. I look in the gym now and instead of seeing a national championship banner, you see whatever it says, second place or whatever. To me, I see 10 seconds short. It’s really hard to think about, no matter how far away it gets.

“But I think that the whole time we were there, we had an emphasis on being super appreciative and super grateful of the place we were at and understanding how big of a deal it was. I think that helped in the moment and helps now as we get farther away from it.”

On the road to the DIII national title game, Emory prevailed over Yeshiva University, 101-80, in the Sweet 16. The Woodruff PE Center was rocking on that mid-March afternoon and Fauss vividly recalls how Yeshiva supporters not only came in droves from up north but also that following the rout, they were exceptionally gracious in defeat. Though Fauss doesn’t identify as being Jewish, he understood the magnitude of that moment for Jewish Atlanta, a community that he has wholeheartedly embraced ever since he matriculated at Emory in autumn 2023.

“I’m Christian, but back in St. Louis there are a ton of Jews from where I’m from. I’ve always been aware of the Jewish religion, but I didn’t really have any friends back home who were Jewish. But then coming here [Emory], I’ve had some teammates who are [Jewish]. When you spend so much time with the same guys every day, you have conversations about everything. We’ve had a lot of conversations about community and religion and how that looks in different aspects. And so, I think I’ve learned a lot about the Jewish community here with it being so strong around Emory. It’s been a real eye-opener.”