Lots of news here and more coming throughout the week:

Finally the 429 and 417 connect so one can easily get on or off I-4 in Sanford or stay on the beltway going to the East or West Side and avoid I-4 all together.

What in the world is going on with our women's basketball team? We lose to a team with walk-ons? I see close scores...but wow has this program has really dropped.

Certainly won't be the last.

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Fairburn (Ga.) Creekside wide receiver Dylan Vickerson, a priority recruit for UCF's 2025 class, returned to campus last week to attend Friday Knight Lights.

"I loved it," Vickerson told UCFSports.com. "I got to bond with Coach Tim Harris and the assistant wide receivers coach. They didn't leave my side the whole time I was there. We talked about everything. I got to talk to Coach Gus Malzahn and spend some time with him."

Friday Knight Lights is UCF's mega junior day event hosted inside the Bounce House.

"We watched a highlight video, played laser tag, took pictures and basically just spent time with each other," Vickerson said.

Vickerson said the laser tag was a lot of fun. He was on a team that included UCF running back commit Taevion Swint.

"It was in the stadium right there on the field," Vickerson said. "They had things like practice dummies and you capture the flag. They turned the stadium lights down."

Tim Harris Jr. was part of Gus Malzahn's UCF staff from 2021-22. After spending the 2023 season at Miami, Harris has returned to UCF as offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach.

As his potential future position coach, Vickerson said building that relationship is very important. Like Harris, Vickerson is also originally from Miami.

"(Harris) was great," Vickerson said. "It turns out he actually knew my mom. He actually just called me (on Sunday)."

Harris communicated how much they'd love for him to be a Knight.

"He loves how I'm a go-getter wide receiver that goes up and attacks the ball," Vickerson said. "He loves my speed on film."

Vickerson had a memorable conversation with Malzahn during the junior day.

"He basically expressed how important I am and how I'm a priority," Vickerson said. "Coach Malzahn is a real guy. He keeps it 100 with you. You can tell that he says what he means. That's the type of coach I want to play for."

While Vickerson is getting a lot of attention from UCF's coaches, they may not be his biggest recruiter.

"That might be EJ Colson," Vickerson said with a laugh.

Colson, the quarterback at Georgia state champion Cedar Grove, recently reclassified from 2025 to 2024 and signed with UCF. He'll enroll later this summer.

"At Friday Knight Lights, Coach Gus kept on saying that EJ is always on him about me, sending over my film," Vickerson said. "Me and EJ are really close. That's my guy. I've been tight with EJ ever since I moved to Georgia, basically getting to know him through 7-on-7. As soon as I got the offer last summer, he was all over me."

On Sunday night, Vickerson released his top five which includes UCF, Tennessee, Missouri, Maryland and NC State.

"I love everything about UCF," Vickerson said. "That's been ever since I stepped foot on campus as a freshman. I first met Coach Gus Malzahn and I loved what he was doing then. I used to train with Javon Baker and he showed me around one time. I love everything about UCF."

A quick return visit is in the works. Vickerson says he and EJ Colson will attend this Saturday's home basketball game against Oklahoma.

He is planning to announce his commitment next week on Wednesday, Feb. 7.

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Chris Denson had quite the week.

After picking up his first offer from Toledo in September, the Plant City quarterback added five more in the past few days from Liberty, Jacksonville State, Bethune-Cookman, FAU and South Florida.

UCF is among the schools keeping close tabs and he recently visited Orlando. It was his second visit after attending last year's spring game.

"They showed me everything," Denson said. "My favorite part was the weight room. That was beautiful. I really liked talking with Coach (Darin) Hinshaw. It was a more personal talk than football. He wanted to get to know better, basically what type of person I am."

The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder played his first two seasons at Mulberry and transferred to Plant City for his junior year where he passed for 2,147 yards and 26 touchdowns with 688 rushing yards and three more scores.

"(Hinshaw) said he liked my size and said I'd really fit into the offense well with the RPO," Denson said.

Denson feels his athletic ability sets him apart from other quarterbacks.

"I'm able to run and throw," he said. "I'm a deep threat too. Teams have to respect my legs with me being able to run, but if they bring them up I can take them over the top."

Denson said it was "amazing" being able to meet UCF head coach Gus Malzahn. He said he was impressed by UCF's stadium as well as the academic offerings. He is thinking about an engineering major.

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UCF's recruiting efforts for 2025 and beyond blast off this weekend with "Friday Knight Lights," an invitation-only event that will bring in more than 70 top prospects to campus.

Several four-star prospects are expected, including running back commitment Taevion Swint, wide receivers Dylan Vickerson, Tae'Shaun Gelsey and Joshua Moore, linebacker Ethan Pritchard and athlete Tony Williams.

Here's a look at some of the names:

My apologies if this was already posted.

But at least this proposal takes the burden off the donors

Would this Auburn Safety follow his coaches to UCF?

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Eight of the last nine contests between UCF and Cincinnati have been decided by less than 10 points, with the most recent of the meetings coming down to the buzzer. The Bearcats sunk a mid-range floater with less than a second on the clock to beat the Knights in Orlando 73-71 in the most recent tilt between the former American foes. Cincinnati swept the season series last season, but prior to that UCF won four of the last six meetings, including a double overtime thriller in Feb. 2020.

Cincinnati had a tough welcome to the Big 12, facing six straight ranked teams to begin its conference slate. The Bearcats went 2-4 in the process, losing four of their last five. Their two league wins came via a 71-60 win in Provo over No. 12 BYU and an 81-77 victory over No. 19 TCU.

Coach Dawkins will be seeking his 300th career victory on Saturday, a feat that would make him the sixth active head coach in the Big 12 Conference to reach the milestone. He has compiled 143 of his 299 wins thus far at UCF with the second-highest winning percentage in program history through his current eighth season. Dawkins compiled 156 wins at Stanford through eight seasons, winning two NIT titles and reaching the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 while there.

Iowa State won, 78-67.

UCF avoids a trip to Ames this season.

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Great article but this excerpt totally sums up a rational fan’s take on The Johnny Dawkins Experience and the various truthers and haters that surround our weird little hoops program:

Does Johnny Dawkins deserve another contract? I don’t know. A six-game sample size into league play is not enough for me. He is by far the most successful head basketball coach in our short history. That’s not saying much though. I often disdained the Black and Gold Banneret article “Johnny Dawkins Gives UCF Basketball Fans Way More Than They Give Him.” Relationships should be give and take, and an opportunity for both parties to grow together and thrive. If there is a competitive, engaging product people will come.

Click to expand...

I think I can probably speak for a lot of casual basketball / die hard UCF fans that we are just looking for a reason to stay on the hoops bandwagon. I’m proud of what this team has accomplished so far and hope we close the season out strong

Worth a read, great stuff @dali drama

They are flying out this morning on a Delta 737-800 on a commercial flight.



Should push back in about 20 mins:

PS. Hope UCF was able to secure Exit Row seats for the big guys or at least aisle seats for most.

12 noon

Kansas State at No. 4 Houston (ESPN)

1:30

No. 7 Kansas at No. 23 Iowa State (CBS)

2 pm

No. 20 Texas Tech at No. 11 Oklahoma (ESPN+)
Texas at No. 21 BYU (ESPN2)
West Virginia at Oklahoma State (ESPN+)

4 pm

TCU at No. 15 Baylor (ESPN2)

7 pm

UCF at Cincinnati (ESPN+)

Like a staph infection, this group of defensive “coaches” is slowly killing us. Yes, I borrowed the term staph to describe the defensive coaches from another board. Sue me. Addison lmao shouldve been fired last year, but somehow got a promotion. Well we have seen how god awful he’s been. His dbs have regressed every single year. He rivals Austin Armstrong for worst dc at a p5 school. He cannot come back. Lbs and defensive line was awful. I have no idea wtf David gibbs does, but he’s trash at it. Sims lbs have been atrocious. The dline has regressed. We need to see changes to this defensive group if we want to be serious. Oh btw no one is coming to play for Addison Williams so I don’t think we need to worry about losing recruits.

Special teams and tight end play have sucked donkey dick since Blackmon has been here. Where the hell did Pittman go? Wtf happened to boomer? Why the hell was he still trotting out Obarski last year. Wtf happened to McCarthy punting? Dude is the worst position coach we’ve ever had. Rob Sale is getting fired from uf. I’d probably grab him for te coach. Grab the special teams coach from Troy.


If we want to make changes that’s where we start

Happy Gasparilla

I haven't watched any games this year. What's going on with the women's team? Do we need a fire the coach thread? That always seems to help.

SIAP

Starts up on Friday, Jan 26th at 7 pm inside UCF's Addition Financial Arena.

UCF’s Gus Malzahn uses helicopter to make recruiting visit to Cocoa​

Malzahn became the latest to make his rounds around the Sunshine State

• ANDY VILLAMARZO
• 1 HOUR AGO

UCF WR Kobe Hudson met with the media to talk about the offseason changes and his expectations for 2024. With new pieces on both sides of the ball, Kobe is poised to help lead his team to become a title contender in the Big XII conference.

Click here to watch.

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“UCF Football Stadium Renovation Survey”

From UCF athletics today

Lots of questions about adding shade

A very reasonably priced private club with year round access

Added premium seating and turnkey tailgating options

This is p5 shit folks, really exciting.


Click through the survey and post real answers not dumbass complaining because your ice cream melted. There is some very interesting stuff shared in there

also I think I need to buy a brick before they jack the pricing up