Ohio State is by far the worst, in my opinion.

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Carr will be in Florida this weekend visiting FSU. He is trying to swing over to UCF to visit the Knights as well.

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Sophomore cornerback Brandon Adams was one of the highlights of UCF's first scrimmage of spring, intercepting a pass and then taking it all the way to the house for a score. He spoke about the pick-six and other topics immediately afterward.

To start off, Adams explained how he got his hands on the ball.

"First of all, I want to thank my d-line," Adams said. "They did a great job getting pressure on the quarterback. I had re-routed my man, following the eyes of the quarterback and I intercepted the ball."

Adams picked off Mikey Keene. And the receiver he was covering?

"It was zone coverage, but the receivers out there were (Ryan) O'Keefe and Flash (Jaylon Robinson)."

A member of UCF's 2021 recruiting class, Adams made an immediate impact as a true freshman. He began the season in the rotation at corner, then was elevated into a starting role vs. ECU on Oct. 9. He would end up making six starts, finishing with 19 tackles with one TFL and one pass breakup.

"I learned a lot last year," Adams. "Coach Addi (Addison Williams) and Coach (David) Gibbs did a great job helping me improve and understanding zone coverage, man coverage, alignments. Also T-Will. They all played a big part in helping me transition from high school to college. When I got the start, it was an exciting feeling. Just an amazing feeling."

Where can he improve?

"I think I probably need to work on my tackling," Adams. "Probably getting more comfortable with tackling. Last year, I wouldn't say nervous but I was kind of timid. The game speed was very fast. But it's slowing down a lot."



Asked about his favorite memory from the 2021 season, Adams said it had to be that first start vs. ECU.

"First play, Davonte Brown set the tone (with a pass breakup). Then in the second play I came in and set the tone (tackled the receiver for a short gain). That was a good experience."

UCF returns all their starters in the secondary and adds a former All-Conference player in Koby Perry, a transfer from Austin Peay.

"I feel like we could be one of the top secondaries in the nation," Adams said. "Koby Perry shows he can get to the ball. Newt (Divaad Wilson) is always around the ball. (Justin) Hodges covers well. Davonte Brown and Corey Thornton cover well. We're all in this together."

Koby Perry was a standout in Tuesday's scrimmage.

"He was around the ball a lot."

Adams thought the defense finished well in the scrimmage.

"Today we started off slow. That happens sometimes. After they got the first or second touchdown, we came together and said we can't let them in the end zone anymore. We picked it up after those first two touchdowns."

What's his personal outlook for 2022?

"I'm looking to have a great season," Adams said. "I feel like I'm more experienced. The game has slowed down. I feel like I'm going to be way more comfortable."

And how about the team?

"We talk in the locker room," Adams said. "I feel we could be compared to the 2017, 2018 teams. We're really good. We have a great chance of winning the whole thing. That's what I feel like."

Adams added his favorite players growing up were Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Terrell.

They are outright owned by the Kremlin. Absolutely disgusting.

Could UCF get a coach as good as Karl Smesko ? Who I know has turned down P6 jobs.

I'm curious if others share this opinion, but I really felt like Coach Abe was the "best" UCF coach - in any sport - at least in the timeline that I've followed the athletic programs (20+ years).

I base this on looking at the entire package - she can coach, she can recruit, she has a great personality, awesome with the media in interviews, etc. There have been other successful coaches at UCF, but I felt like Abe pretty much hit every mark you'd want.

Prior to her arrival, UCF WBB was a middling program aside from an occasional fluke conference tournament run. Abe made UCF an instant competitor - NIT appearances her first two seasons (close to making NCAAs), then finally breaking through to the NCAA Tournament in 2018-19. They could have likely been in the tourney again in 2020 but it was obviously canceled due to COVID. They're now coming off three seasons of NCAA appearances (skipping the COVID year).

While this was the first season UCF won a NCAA Tournament game, the trajectory was obvious to see. And doing it in a sport like WBB that doesn't have inherent advantages that I feel softball, soccer, etc. have just for being located in Florida and access to a great recruiting base.

If Abe remained at UCF, I have zero doubts the program would be an instant competitor in the Big 12. I can't say that about some other coaches on campus. It's as close to a sure thing that you're gonna get.

And if there's coach that's able to take a program into the higher eichelon of WBB - think of what Dawn Staley has been able to achieve at South Carolina - it's Coach Abe. I felt like she'd be able to do that in the Big 12, finally competing in a conference that gets respect.

I know UCF WBB is a relative newcomer to the party, but it had to be disheartening to pretty much roll through your entire schedule while being largely ignored by the national polls (how many weeks did it take to get ranked?), then underseeded by the NCAA Committee. That was largely non-P5 bias in play, but would have soon been changing with the Big 12.

Anyway, we all knew schools would be coming after her. Abe already has ties to UGA - she originally went there as a student-athlete before transferring back home to Iowa.

Per Jason Beede's reporting, Abe did receive a salary increase prior to the season that elevated her base pay at UCF from $400K to $575K.

I heard yesterday from a UCF source that Terry Mohajir was offering a raise that would put her salary in the "top 15" of WBB.

I learned today that offer was $900K with a bump in the budget pool for her staff. Then when UCF officially joins the Big 12, Abe would receive a subequent raise that would put her in the top 10 nationally along with another assistant pool bump.

Yeah, I've seen a couple people mention in other threads TMo put a time limit on the offer, wanting her to accept and not go forward with the interview at UGA. I've heard that too.

UCF is also lagging behind in facilities, and I've heard Abe was a bit frustrated by the lack of progress on that front. Some of the basketball "upgrades" (MBB and WBB) in recent years have essentially been the equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig, trying to make the most of the space they currently have.

I know UCF has plans - obviously funding is another story - but the only renderings that have been publicly released are the ones pertaining to football. Yeah, I know there's a lot currently on the plate, such as finalizing the AAC exit into the Big 12, determining if remaining in-house for corporate sponsorships, etc. is the best move, etc. I just know the lack of progress on the basketball facility (any new facility would double for both MBB and WBB) has frustrated her (and probably Dawkins too).

For a peer school, but Houston really is the model to follow. Their current facility opened in 2016 at a cost of $25M.


UCF's current facility is essentially the old UCF Arena - the old "upper deck" of bleacher seating was walled off on each side to give MBB and WBB their own practice court with offices/locker rooms nearby and a small weight room down one of the old hallways. It's functional, but lacks any sort of wow factor.

Could more have been done to keep Abe at UCF? Or was she always leaving anyway? It's hard to beat offering a top 15 salary and top 10 in another year. But sometimes decisions are made for other reasons, not just money. The SEC offers advantages that going to the Big 12 will still be difficult to counter. As her star continued to brighten, I always knew it would be increasingly difficult to keep her.

Obviously the search now begins. It will be interesting to see the direction TMo goes - obviously going to the Big 12 should make this a much more attractive job.

As everyone probably knows, my sources are legit which is how I’ve predicted many things! Anyway, players are getting thousands just to sign footballs (weekly during the season) and if the NLI package isn’t good enough at the school, they just leave to a new school that is good enough. Don’t like any of the coaches? No problem- bye bye portal time. This places the coaches into the precarious position of appeasing/coddling the good players rather than coaching them up bc one wrong word and it’s hasta la vista time. May as well just hand the keys of the Cadillac to the players bc it’s over.*

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For years, Lokahi Pauole felt like one of the younger guys and he can hardly believe he's getting ready to play his senior season. Pauole, who has started the last two seasons on the offensive line, caught up with the media following Tuesday's scrimmage.

What's the consensus following the first two weeks of spring practice?

"It's been really exciting," Pauole said. "I like the competition. Offensive line has been great, bringing in the new guys that transferred in like Tylan (Grable) and Ryan (Swoboda). We've been trying to fill in where we miss Cole (Schneider) and Marcus (Tatum) from last year. It's been great. It's been a good spring so far. We're going to keep it rolling."

And how did the first scrimmage go?

"I think for the most part we did fairly okay," Pauole said. "We scored a couple times, starting off early. One thing we could work on as an offensive line is finishing and straining blocks. Get more than three scores. Try to go for five or six. Try to be the best we can be as an offense."

Have any players stood out to him in the early going?

"I love watching the young guys," Pauole said. "Tommy (Castellanos) did some amazing things. I see a little flash of KZ in him. It's surprising me. He's got some development to do, don't get me wrong, but seeing him break loose for a couple runs and making the right reads on some throws was exciting. It's something to look forward to.

Sam Jackson is the veteran of the group about to embark on his sixth year in Orlando.

"He's like the dad of the offensive line for years now," Pauole said. "If we've got anything, we can talk to Sam. He's our big brother in there. Having him in our room for another year returning, it's something special. He loves this place. He puts his heart into this place. It shows on the field. He helps us out as a unit. He's a good leader."

If Sam is the dad, Lokahi could be the younger uncle.

"That's really the next step for me, changing my perspective on the team," Pauole said. "I used to be the young guy and I'm going into my fourth year. I'm really an old dude and Sam is still here which is crazy because he was already here when I got here. Learning from Sam, trying to be a leader for the team. Just helping out guys where they need it."

How are the offensive tackle transfers - Tylan Grable and Ryan Swoboda - integrating themselves within the unit?

"It's fun. I like the fact we have quality guys. Last year you saw a majority of five or six guys on the offensive line, so bringing in people like Ryan and Tylan is better for us. We're only going to get better. Instead of only having five or six great guys, why not have 10? Tylan and Ryan are great additions for us on the edges."



What does the offense need to continue to work on?

"One thing I think we can work on is straining and finishing as a unit," Pauole said. "It's not just offensive linemen that block. Wide receivers block on the edges too. When we get down to the red zone, you want to see us score touchdowns. Everybody wants to score touchdowns and not field goals. That's how we win games."

How is quarterback Mikey Keene different or better since last season?

"Mikey, it's like it's his fourth year already," Pauole said. "He's like a veteran. He's one of us. He's running the offense, keeping us on pace. He's getting better by the day. I'm excited to see what Mikey can do in his career here."

And how is John Rhys Plumlee fitting in?

"It's exciting watching J.R. play," Pauole said. "It's two different play styles between J.R. and Mikey. You get different perspectives. It's fun watching J.R. do his thing. He was a wide receiver at Ole Miss, so when he pulls the ball it's exciting to watch him make some moves. Also when he throws the ball, he makes some nice plays. It's a good competition. It's good having both of them in the back field."

How is the defense challenging him?

"Most of the time we're going against the defensive linemen," Pauole said. "I like Ricky Barber and (Anthony) Montalvo. I think both of those guys have been giving us good work. Iron sharpens iron. Ricky has been making plays, getting us better up front. It's been good competition."

Pauole is bullish about their outlooks this and also offered an interesting take about the transfer portal.

"You can already tell we're light years ahead from last year," Pauole said. "Our team looks really good. I'm not just saying this to hype it up. This is my fourth year here and I think this is the best spring I've been a part of. At least on the offensive side and the defensive side. We look like a real good team.

"I think with the whole transfer portal thing, you've got guys who really want to be here. You've got guys who want to stay. The guys who want to be here stayed. And the guys who didn't want to be here left. That's just how it is. The guys who came in transferred here for a reason. Really this year is different than others because of the transfer portal. I'm happy about it. Everybody on this team right now wants to be here and wants to win. They want to do something good."

Saw it mentioned in the Mission XII thread, so here are the old and new images side by side.

From August 2021:



March 2022 (second story added):



August 2021:



March 2022 (second story added):

UCF is in the mix.

Any Shareholder Society people in attendance that want to share what they saw?

Do you like the NFL Overtime format or prefer NCAA's OT?

Does it seem fair that if the team winning the coin toss scores, the other team never touches the ball ? Game over!

Outside of the 2018-19 team that followed their NIT run with an NCAA Tournament season, I felt like this was perhaps the second-most anticipated team in UCF history (at least in the modern era).

Thanks to the COVID extra season of eligibility, UCF was able to bring back Darius Perry and Brandon Mahan giving way to talk this could be the "deepest" roster in UCF history.

In short, every impact player returned and there were high hopes incoming players like Darius Johnson, Cheikh Mbacke Diong and Tyem Freeman would fill in remaining gaps to give Johnny Dawkins a solid rotation.

A return to the NCAA Tournament was the goal and seemed attainable. Which is why this season was so disappointing.

Things looked promising at the conclusion of the non-conference slate. UCF was 9-2 heading into January (one of those wins was an early AAC victory at Temple) with signature wins against Miami and Michigan and losses to Auburn and Oklahoma (and the OU game was winnable, losing by 3).

Of those four marquee games, Auburn was the No. 1 team in the country for several weeks and may end up a No. 2 seed in the tourney. Miami was also solid in the ACC and could be a 10 seed. Michigan is considered a bubble team barely in at the moment, while OU is among the "first four out."

Figuring Houston and Memphis would be the class of the AAC, UCF probably needed to be in that No. 3 range in the AAC to have a shot. But there would be little room for error.

UCF began January by losing three of their first four AAC games, including bad losses to Temple (blowing a lead at home) and getting crushed by South Florida on the road. Following that game, they needed a miracle to tie ECU in regulation and then won it in OT.

At that point, it was pretty clear this was not going to be tournament-contending team.

Yeah, UCF did have a nice early win against Memphis at home but that was when the Tigers had roster issues and hadn't yet figured things out. As we've seen in recent weeks, they're rolling now and should be an 8/9 seed in the tournament and probably better than that in actuality.

Houston had their way with UCF during both meetings. SMU won easily in the only meeting. And while there were competitive moments in the latter two matchups against Memphis, the Tigers still rolled over UCF.

While UCF was competitive with the rest of the AAC, just a game out of a first-round bye, the inconsistency was frustrating.

Of UCF's three top players - Darius Perry, Brandon Mahan and Darin Green - it seemed like it was illegal for all three to have solid games on the same night. It always seemed one or two would do well, while the third would have an awful game.

Case in point last night vs. Memphis - With Brandon Mahan not close to 100 percent and limited with the ankle injury, UCF needed DP and DG to step up. Perry did, scoring 23 points including 4-of-8 from three. Darin Green had one of his worst games of the season, shooting 2-of-14 with just one three-pointer. And he played nearly 40 minutes too.

Beyond the top six of Perry, Mahan, Green, Darius Johnson C.J. Walker and Cheikh Mbacke Diong - all of whom nearly played double the minutes of everybody else on the roster, the so-called "deepest" team in UCF history didn't really pan out.

Isaiah Adams, though he had a couple solid games towards the end, had a lackluster if not poor season given the expectations. Jamille Reynolds was serviceable in his limited role, but not progressing enough to be considered a starter-worthy player.

Tony Johnson Jr. and Sean Mobley oddly disappeared without explanation - both were rumored to have COVID/quarantine type issues in December - though neither was expected to be a primary contributor.

Injuries weren't really an issue until late in the season - if Brandon Mahan is healthy and Darin Green Jr. doesn't miss the Tulane game, UCF would have had a better chance to get a first-round bye.

I've been reading everyone's posts and to be honest, everybody is making good points.

Was this season a disappointment? Yes. It is fair to point out UCF's inadequacies compared to peer schools, such as budget, facilities, travel, etc.? Also yes.

Regardless of who the head coach is, one of Terry Mohajir's biggest jobs will be figuring out basketball heading into the Big 12. If UCF thought competing with the likes of Memphis, Houston and Wichita State was a challenge, that will be dwarfed heading into a league that still will have a solid argument to be the No. 1 league in college basketball.

I know this link has been tossed around in recent weeks, but it's worth revisiting. Basically, a breakdown of MBB budgets. Somewhat dated (April 2020) but it's the most up-to-date figures I believe.


UCF's MBB budget was NEXT TO LAST in the AAC. This even after UCF's landmark season of 2018-19.

The list:

1. Houston - $9.2M
2. Memphis - $8.2M
3. Wichita State - $8.1M
4. Cincinnati - $7.6M
5. SMU - $7.5M
6. Temple - $6.4M
7. Tulsa - $6.1M
8. Tulane - $4.9M
9. South Florida - $4.9M
10. UCF - $4.5M
11. ECU - $3.9M

Jeff Sharon utilized the figures in a series of tweets last month, including this one which shows have much UCF has overachieved relative to budget:

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And for the question everybody has... I'm not sure I have a great handle of how TMo views Johnny Dawkins and basketball in general. When Danny White arrived, it was a foregone conclusion Donnie Jones was a dead-man walking and would be fired at season's end.

Donnie could have been fired after the initial infractions, but UCF kept him around and put the blame on Tribble. Then Stansbury never wanted to fire anybody so he stuck around a few more years.

For basketball issues, TMo values the opinion of his second-in-command, Rich Zvosec, who is a former basketball coach at North Florida and UMKC. (Fun Fact: A Speraw-led UCF team played an in-season home and home series with UMKC and Zvosec in 2004 because both teams needed to fill multiple holes in their OOC schedule. UCF won both games).

UCF is still trying to figure out their financial situation heading into the Big 12, including where the AAC buyout money is coming from. They're trying to determine whether it's best to keep corporate sponsorship sales in-house (which had been successful before talent was gutted) or realign with an outside partner like Learfield IMG.

Is UCF ready to make a broader commitment to the MBB program, which would entail more than just replacing a coaching staff?

Johnny Dawkins is still the best coach in UCF's Division I history, nationally respected and "overachieving" given UCF's commitment.

A few other points...

Facilities - The UCF Arena is fine as a gameday facility, though obviously the "presentation" is an issue with the empty club section, cavernous "courtside club" behind the basket, etc. (which is another argument). The existing practice facility, weight room, etc. is nothing special and needs an upgrade. UCF has drawn up plans for a new hoops facility - part of the master plan that TMo talked about last fall when unveiling the football-specific upgrades. For some reason, that has not been released.

Fan support - Frankly, it's never been good. I'd love to see turnstile attendance numbers through the years. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems UCF's core season ticket base has been dwindling over the past 10 years. It wasn't great before, but I thought the upper parts of 105/106/107 used to be more populated. Club seat attendance has always been bad, which we know looks awful on TV. Are all those tickets sold and people just don't come? There are more premium offerings these days with expanded courtside seating, so did those seats take away from regular club?

COVID may have taken a bite out of attendance, especially in late December and early January when Omicron was running rampant. Hard to say. But it's clear the season ticket base has taken a hit.

Of course, it's a lot easier these days to follow the team with every game on TV or ESPN+. And it doesn't help when ESPN decides to put two home games at 9 p.m. on a weeknight.

Student attendance I thought was pretty good this year. I went back and looked at photos from the early days of the arena (2007-11 type era) and while UCF might have had a few more "rowdier" front-facing fans, I think overall student attendance is better today than it was back then.

Roster - I'm expecting a lot of transfer portal action. Potentially both ways. I think Darius Johnson (assuming dad remains on staff), C.J. Walker and Tyem Freeman are the best bets to return.

Darin Green Jr.? Could he be frustrated with the lack of postseason and see what sort of interest there is in the portal? Dre Fuller? He's already graduated and walked on senior night, which I think says something. Isaiah Adams? You'd love to see him realize his potential and develop into a star, but you wonder if his stagnation may have him thinking he needs a change of scenery. I'm curious to see how it plays out.

UCF only has two signees: The Hendricks twins, Taylor and Tyler. Taylor is a four-star power forward.

UCF is among the prominent schools in the mix for 2022 center Jeremy Foumena from Canada.

Beyond that, I think most other additions will be in the form of transfers.

When is UCF's?

KZ participating in FSU's today.

If you guys are in the dungeon, thank you very much!

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Looks like Valencia is trying to change from the Matadors? The orange looks slightly familiar...

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Should TMo replace "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" with this catchy tune?

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-Who will be next to commit???
-Why hasn’t Goldie or the twin LBs from Brantley jumped on the Gus Bus yet?
-Malachi would cause a massive snowball effect if he pops soon.
-I wonder how many transfer scholarships ZFG still has available for this year

Per D1 Softball. Huge week upcoming with a game against #7 Florida and a weekend series at home with #5 Virginia Tech. 🥎

2 pt game with 1:30 left

Cases in Quebec. China has quarantined an entire city with 11 mil people (bigger than Houston or Miami). Yikes.