I recently watched college basketball insider Jeff Goodman interview Johnny Dawkins, the head coach of the University of Central Florida’s men’s basketball team. It made me realize something I already knew, but brought it to life even more after watching. I have been incredibly impressed with UCF’s current season, and Dawkins’ interview has me thinking about how little media coverage he and his team have gotten.
While this may be the most niche topic I’ve written about, the Knights have made a tremendous turnaround this season after years of mediocrity, including only one NCAA Tournament appearance in the past 20 years.
After a respectable but unsatisfactory 2024-25 campaign in which UCF finished with a record of 20-17 overall and a 7-13 record in the Big 12 Conference, the bar was low for the Knights heading into this season.
The current age of college basketball has players entering the transfer portal and switching schools left and right. Dawkins felt the impacts of this during the unheard-of roster turnover from last season to this season. In recent years, roster turnover has become a hurdle that every coaching staff in the country has to deal with in college basketball. However, losing the entire identity of your team and having to find guys who can step in and replace that in a matter of months, like Dawkins had to, is a challenge few schools have faced.
Dawkins faced loads of adversity entering this season, as the team had 13 new incoming players, 11 of whom were acquired through the transfer portal. Every ounce of UCF’s production last season either graduated or moved on to new schools in the transfer portal.
He has been a head coach at this level since 2008, long before the transfer portal era. This big change makes it hard for a long-time coach like Dawkins to bring in a full new roster and get to know his players in just one offseason.
In the interview with Goodman, Dawkins graciously credited his staff for helping him handle these drastic changes, saying, “It says a lot about our staff. Their commitment and how good they are.”
High-level scorers like Keyshawn Hall and Darius Johnson were on their way out, leaving Dawkins with quite the load to replace this past offseason. This year’s lone returners from UCF’s 2024-25 squad are Elijah Hulsewe and Poohpha Warakulnukroh, neither of whom logged minutes in more than four games all season.
With the lack of valuable roster continuity entering this season from a roster that underperformed to begin with, expectations were very low for this revamped UCF team. The Big 12 Conference’s media team picked the Knights to finish 14th out of 16 teams in its preseason poll.
Conference play in college basketball begins in early January, two months into the season, and there is non-conference play beforehand, where teams from any conference, like the Southeast Conference, Big Ten, Atlantic Coast Conference or Big East Conference, will branch out and play each other in high-stakes matchups. The UCF Knights have been blowing expectations out of the water all season, though, even dating back to November.
In the non-conference slate, UCF topped high-major opponents Texas A&M Aggies and Pittsburgh Panthers from the SEC and ACC on its way to a 12-1 start to the season. They then kicked off Big 12 play with an impressive win over the University of Kansas Jayhawks, which was ranked 17th in the country at the time. They have also beaten Texas Tech University Red Raiders and Brigham Young University Cougars, who were ranked 11th and 19th, respectively, at the time of these matchups.
The UCF Knights currently hold a 20-8 overall record and have gone 9-7 in the Big 12, which is widely regarded as college basketball’s most competitive conference. They currently sit at sixth in the conference, blowing preseason predictions out of the water.
ESPN analysts currently project UCF to be slotted as an eight seed in March Madness.
Two regular-season games remain before the Big 12 Tournament, and March Madness ensues, but regardless of where the Knights end up being positioned in the postseason, this season has been a major success. Dawkins and his new collection of players deserve loads of respect and media praise for the unfathomable turnaround they have made.
Jack Muldowney is a freshman studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note the opinions expressed in this column do not represent those of The Post. Want to talk to Jack Muldowney about their column? Email/tweet them at jm760224@ohio.edu or @JackMuldowney1.
