2020–21 UCF Knights men's basketball team

The 2020–21 UCF Knights men's basketball team represents the University of Central Florida during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Knights are members of the American Athletic Conference. The Knights, in the program's 52nd season of basketball, are led by fifth-year head coach Johnny Dawkins and play their home games at the Addition Financial Arena on the university's main campus in Orlando, Florida.

2020–21 UCF Knights men's basketball
Conference	American Athletic Conference
2020–21 record	4–9 (2–8 AAC)
Head coach	Johnny Dawkins (5th season)
Assistant coaches	Kevin Norris (5th season) Vince Taylor (4th season) Robbie Laing (5th season)
Home arena	Addition Financial Arena

2020–21 American Athletic Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 5 Houston	10	–	2		.833			15	–	2		.882
Wichita State	6	–	2		.750			10	–	4		.714
Memphis	7	–	3		.700			11	–	6		.647
SMU	6	–	4		.600			10	–	4		.714
Tulsa	6	–	5		.545			9	–	7		.563
South Florida	3	–	3		.500			7	–	5		.583
Temple	3	–	6		.333			4	–	6		.400
Cincinnati	2	–	4		.333			4	–	7		.364
East Carolina	2	–	6		.250			8	–	6		.571
Tulane	2	–	6		.250			7	–	6		.538
UCF	2	–	8		.200			4	–	9		.308
† 2021 AAC Tournament winner As of February 4, 2021; Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The Knights finished the 2019–20 season 16–14 overall and 7–11 in AAC play to finish in eighth place. They entered as the No. 8 seed in the AAC Tournament, which was ultimately cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Yuat Alok	0	F	6'11"	225	Junior	Auckland, New Zealand	Transferred to Southern Utah (mid-season)[1]
Matt Milon	2	G	6'5"	210	Graduate Student	Oviedo, FL	Completed college eligibility[lower-alpha 1]
Ceasar DeJesus	4	G	6'2"	190	RS Junior	Jersey City, NJ	Play professionally[2]
Dazon Ingram	12	G	6'6"	205	Graduate Student	Theodore, AL	Completed college eligibility[lower-alpha 1]
Frank Bertz	20	G	6'5"	180	Senior	Hesperia, CA	Graduated

1. Milon and Ingram were both graduate transfers in the 2019–20 season, with Milon having graduated from William & Mary and Ingram from Alabama.

Incoming Transfers

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Darius Perry	G	6'2"	195	Graduate Student	Powder Springs, GA	Transferred from Louisville after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately.[3]
C. J. Walker	F	6'8"	200	Sophomore	Sanford, FA	Transferred from Oregon. Walker was granted a waiver for immediate eligibility.[4] Will have three years of remaining eligibility.[5]

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Jamille Reynolds PF	Saint Petersburg, FL	Lakewood Senior High School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	Aug 18, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 80
Isaiah Adams SF	Jacksonville, FL	Paxon School for Advanced Studies	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sep 2, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 80
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved 16 April 2020.

Preseason

AAC preseason media poll

On October 28, The American released the preseason Poll and other preseason awards[6]

Coaches Poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Houston	99 (2)
2	Memphis	90 (2)
3	SMU	80
4	Cincinnati	77
5	South Florida	61
6	Tulsa	50
7	Wichita State	44
8	UCF	37
9	East Carolina	34
10	Temple	18
11	Tulane	15

Roster

2020–21 UCF Knights men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Tony Johnson Jr. 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So The Skill Factory Eufaula, Alabama G 2 Darius Perry 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) GS Louisville Powder Springs, GA G 3 Isaiah Adams 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Paxon School for Advanced Studies Jacksonville, Florida F 4 Jamille Reynolds 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Lakewood Senior High School Saint Petersburg, Florida C 5 Avery Diggs 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Sr SW Mississippi CC Brandon, Florida G 10 Levy Renaud (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr NSU University School Fort Lauderdale, Florida G 11 Xavier Grant (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr American Heritage School Fort Lauderdale, Florida G 13 Brandon Mahan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Texas A&M Birmingham, Alabama F 14 Ibrahim Famouke Doumbia 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Jr South Carolina Bamako, Mali F 20 Sean Mobley 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Jr VCU Melbourne, Florida F 21 C. J. Walker 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Oregon Sanford, Florida G 22 Darin Green Jr. 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Wharton High School Charlotte, North Carolina G 24 Dre Fuller Jr. 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS So Admiral Farragut Academy Fayetteville, North Carolina F 25 Ryan Anders (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Wharton High School Tampa, Florida C 33 Moses Bol 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Jr Colby CC Wau, South Sudan C 35 Collin Smith 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) RS Sr George Washington Jacksonville, Florida	Head coach Johnny Dawkins (Duke) Assistant coach(es) Kevin Norris (Miami (FL)) Vince Taylor (Duke) Robbie Laing (Troy) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: July 27, 2020

Schedule and results

UCF will start a series with Michigan beginning this season in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[7]

COVID-19 impact

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Knights' schedule is subject to change, including the cancellation or postponement of individual games, the cancellation of the entire season, or games played either with minimal fans or without fans in attendance and just essential personnel.

• The game vs. Oklahoma scheduled for Nov 28th was cancelled due to COVID-19 issues.[8]

• The game vs. Houston originally scheduled for Dec 15th was moved to Dec 26th due to positive COVID-19 tests in the Houston program.[9]

• The game vs. Tulane orignally scheduled for Dec 30th was moved to Feb 12th due to COVID-19 issues.[10]

• The game vs. Memphis originally scheduled for Jan 5th was moved to Feb 1st due to COVID-19 issues.[11]

• The game @ Tulsa originally scheduled for Jan 9th was moved to March 2nd in Orlando due to COVID-19 issues.[12]

• The game vs. Tulsa originally scheduled for Feb 6th was moved to Tulsa.[13]

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 30, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Auburn	W 63–55	1–0	13 – Fuller Jr.	8 – Walker	5 – Fuller Jr.	Addition Financial Arena (1,944) Orlando, FL
December 6, 2020* 4:00 p.m., BTN		at Michigan	L 58–80	1–1	21 – Mahan	5 – Mahan	3 – Fuller Jr.	Crisler Center  Ann Arbor, MI
December 19, 2020* 9:00 p.m., ACCN		at No. 15 Florida State	W 86–74	2–1	32 – Mahan	8 – Adams	4 – Fuller Jr.	Donald L. Tucker Center (2,576) Tallahassee, FL
December 22, 2020 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Cincinnati	W 75–70	3–1 (1–0)	25 – Mahan	10 – Mahan	3 – Fuller Jr.	Addition Financial Arena  Orlando, FL
December 26, 2020 12:00 p.m., ABC		No. 6 Houston	L 54–63	3–2 (1–1)	19 – Sasser	5 – Tied	5 – Jarreau	Addition Financial Arena (1,476) Orlando, FL
January 2, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at South Florida War on I-4	L 61–68	3–3 (1–2)	23 – Perry	8 – Fuller Jr.	6 – Perry	Yuengling Center (1,016) Tampa, FL
January 14, 2021 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Temple	L 55–62	3–4 (1–3)	17 – Green Jr.	10 – Fuller Jr.	7 – Mahan	Liacouras Center  Philadelphia, PA
January 17, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPNU		at No. 11 Houston	L 58–75	3–5 (1–4)	14 – Reynolds	10 – Adams	2 – Tied	Fertitta Center (1,859) Houston, TX
January 23, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPNU		SMU	L 65–78	3–6 (1–5)	14 – Perry	5 – Tied	7 – Perry	Addition Financial Arena (1,394) Orlando, FL
January 27, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		East Carolina	W 71–64	4–6 (2–5)	18 – Green Jr.	6 – Tied	3 – Tied	Addition Financial Arena (1,407) Orlando, FL
January 30, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPNU		at Wichita State	L 88–93 ^OT	4–7 (2–6)	17 – Tied	8 – Reynolds	4 – Adams	Charles Koch Arena (2,100) Wichita, KS
February 1, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Memphis	L 69–96	4–8 (2–7)	15 – Mahan	6 – Mahan	4 – Perry	FedEx Forum (2,106) Memphis, TN
February 3, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Memphis	L 61–75	4–9 (2–8)	18 – Perry	7 – Tied	5 – Mahan	FedEx Forum (2,284) Memphis, TN
February 6, 2021  ESPN2/ESPNU		at Tulsa						Reynolds Center  Tulsa, OK
February 10, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Wichita State						Addition Financial Arena  Orlando, FL
February 12, 2021		Tulane						Addition Financial Arena  Orlando, FL
February 14, 2021 1:00 p.m., ESPNU		at Cincinnati						Fifth Third Arena  Cincinnati, OH
February 17, 2021  ESPNU		South Florida War on I-4						Addition Financial Arena  Orlando, FL
February 20, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPNU		at Tulane						Devlin Fieldhouse  New Orleans, LA
February 23, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPNU		at SMU						Moody Coliseum  University Park, TX
February 27, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPNU		Temple						Addition Financial Arena  Orlando, FL
March 2, 2021		Tulsa						Addition Financial Arena  Orlando, FL
March 4, 2021 9:00 p.m., ESPN2/ESPNU		at East Carolina						Williams Arena  Greenville, NC
American Athletic Conference Tournament
March 11–14, 2021 TBD		vs.						Dickies Arena  Fort Worth, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

References

1. Lester, Bryson. "Thunderbirds Add Top-Tier Transfer Yuat Alok". suutbirds.com. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
2. Murphy, Brian (18 Mar 2020). "Ceasar DeJesus Leaving UCF, Planning to Go Pro". blackandgoldbanneret.com. SB Nation. Retrieved 16 Apr 2020.
3. Evans, Corey [@coreyevans_10] (20 Apr 2020). "Louisville grad-transfer Darius Perry just committed to UCF, his father tells RivalsPortal" (Tweet). Retrieved 20 Apr 2020 – via Twitter.
4. @JonRothstein (23 Nov 2020). "Source: UCF's CJ Walker has received a waiver from the NCAA and is eligible for the 20-21 season. Transfer from Oregon" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
5. Gershon, Josh (6 Jul 2020). "Former five-star Oregon transfer CJ Walker commits to UCF". 247Sports. Retrieved 7 Jul 2020.
6. "Houston Tabbed as 2020-21 American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Favorite". theAmerican.org. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
7. "UCF Announces Home-And-Home With Michigan". ucfknights.com. UCF Athletics. 16 Jul 2020. Retrieved 16 Jul 2020.
8. "UCF versus Memphis basketball game postponed due to COVID-19". orlandosentinel.com. 5 Jan 2021.
9. "Houston-UCF Men's Basketball Game on Dec. 15 Postponed". theamerican.org. 10 Dec 2020.
10. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". theamerican.org. 27 Jan 2021.
11. "Memphis-UCF Men's Basketball Game Rescheduled for Feb. 1". theamerican.org. 7 Jan 2021.
12. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". theamerican.org. 27 Jan 2021.
13. "The American Announces Men's Basketball Schedule Changes". theamerican.org. 27 Jan 2021.