It is a truly new era for the UCF Knights Men’s Basketball program. With Darius Johnson gone, UCF is relying on a nearly entirely new roster to compete in the Big 12 Conference. So with opening night slated for Monday, November 3, it’s time for us to get familiar with this brand new cast.
Here is everything you need to know about the new-look Knights.
Preview with Mike O’Donnell
First, check out our preview of the team with former UCF guard and current CBS, NBC/Peacock and ESPN+ basketball analyst Mike O’Donnell here:
Last Year
Regular
Season: 20-17 (7-13 Big 12), tied for 12th in the Big 12
Postseason: Lost in College Basketball Crown Final
UCF was picked 11th in the Big 12 preseason poll, and looked to be a tough out for teams in the conference until the previous season’s leading scorer, Jaylin Sellers, was lost to injury.
Relying instead on Darius Johnson in his final season, along with scoring guard Keyshawn Hall and young center Moustapha Thiam, the Knights started 10-2 but suffered a crippling seven-game losing streak in conference in February.
In the Big 12 Tournament, UCF beat Utah and took Kansas to double overtime before finally succombing. Then, with Hall leaving in the portal and sporting an eight-man rotation, UCF won three games in the inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament in Las Vegas, beating Cincinnati and Villanova before finally falling to Nebraska.
Johnson, who dropped 42 in the semi against Villanova, played injured in the final but struggled — a microcosm of the season.
Preseason Pick
Picked 15th out of 16 teams in the Big 12 by CBS
Preseason experts are not that impressed with all those newcomers, apparently.
Head Coach
Johnny Dawkins — 10th Season at UCF
Coach Dawkins enters his tenth season in Orlando having posted only one sub-.500 season the previous nine.
In his first eight years at the helm, Dawkins led the Knights to winning records in seven of them, with his only losing season coming in COVID-affected 2020-21. Dawkins has also led his teams to four postseason appearances during his tenure, but has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2019.
What to Watch for
More Tempo
The addition of assistant coach Adam Hood along with G Jordan Ivy-Curry and F Keyshawn Hall resulted in a dramatic change for UCF offensively, opting for a higher-tempo offense that finished fifth in the nation in possessions per game. Despite averaging nearly 80 points per game, UCF’s shooting percentage (42.6%) was near the bottom of Division I at 266th.
The addition of new weapons on offense, if healthy, should continue UCF’s offensive trend of keeping the pace high and wearing out opponents.
Better Defense
On the flipside of that, last year UCF’s defense was abysmal, giving up 80.4 points per game (338th in the nation out of 364). This was highly un-Dawkinslike.
Who’s Gone
13 players are gone from last year’s roster.
Of those, four graduated, although Deebo Coleman is still at UCF as a tight end on the football team.
The other nine all transferred, but only two went to power conference teams: Keyshawn Hall went to Auburn, and Moustapha Thiam (controversially) moved within the Big 12 to Cincinnati.
Who’s New
11 transfers join two freshmen on the roster, as well as the lone two returners, Elijah Hulsewe and Pooh Warakulnukroh
Of those 11 transfers, five are from power schools and eight played more than 17 minutes per game in 2024-25.
We assembled some highlights of the newcomers in this playlist:
So how does this team compare with last year? We compared both squads’ composite per-40 minute stats (divided by two for consistency) and here’s how that looks:
Remember that last year’s team lost 13 players, and this year’s team brought in 11 transfers. We also expect to see more of Elijah Hulsewe in the middle, who was on the roster last year but did not play.
So the comparisons are actually pretty close given the numbers, and this year’s squad looks to be a better shooting team coming in.
But, these are all projections. We won’t know anything until they take the floor together.
Schedule
Big 12 Conference Tournament: March 10-14 at T-Mobile Center (Kansas City, Missouri)
The Last Time…
UCF played Duke: 2019
UCF’s season that year ended against Duke, Johnny Dawkins’ alma mater, in heartbreaking fashion in the NCAA Tournament second round, as we all know.
UCF played Duke in Durham last week in an exhibition.
Here’s to pulling the Uno Reverse card this season and using Duke as a springboard to better things ahead.
