The final regular season men's basketball installment of the War on I-4 takes place on Thursday when UCF hosts South Florida.
I was able to catch up with head coach Johnny Dawkins and guard Darius Perry earlier today. Here's a recap of those conversations.
Darius Perry
Being a rivalry matchup, I asked Darius Perry about his personal experience with rivalries beginning with high school. He played at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga.
"Walton (was our rival)," Perry said. "One time they had Ryan Harrow and the rivalry was pretty big. The gyms were definitely packed. They were real big games. It was nasty every time."
(Harrow played at Walton in the late 2000s and later would play collegiately at NC State, Kentucky and Georgia State).
Perry then briefly reflected on the Louisville-Kentucky rivalry he experienced during his years at UL.
"I didn't realize how serious the rivalries were," Perry said. "The Walton-Wheeler one was kind of serious, but it wasn't family ties serious. Kentucky-Louisville was that way. That was the biggest rivalry I've been a part of. I'm ready for this one against USF."
UCF lost to South Florida 75-51 back on Jan. 15, which easily ranks as their worst loss of the year in terms of performance (UCF shot 33 percent and were outrebounded 53-26) and level of opponent (South Florida has a NET ranking of 236).
"(Coach Dawkins) definitely brings it up so it stays in front of our minds," Perry said. "So we keep that fire in our chest to go out there and compete with them. That loss doesn't define us. We lost pretty bad when we went there, but now they've got to come here."
Perry believed their focus wasn't where it should have been during that first meeting.
"Just play harder," Perry said when asked what's got to change this time around. "I think last time they played harder than us. They really wanted that game. They embraced the rivalry. I think we have to do the same thing."
==
Johnny Dawkins
First off, Johnny Dawkins briefly reflected on that first game at South Florida.
"It wasn't our best performance," Dawkins said. "Give them credit. I thought USF played well and we didn't play as well. We need to play better. We understand that. I think our guys are going to prepare that way."
What needs to change this time around?
"Rebound the basketball," Dawkins said. "That's got to be something we really concentrate on. They doubled us up in rebounding. That was tremendous effort by them. We have to do a lot better job of rebounding the ball on both ends of the floor."
Similarly to the question posed to Darius Perry, I asked Dawkins if he had a high school rival.
"DeMatha was our rival," Dawkins said. "They were the best program in our area and one of the best programs in the nation. Everybody wanted to win against them. I had that in high school. Then of course Duke-North Carolina, had that for four years in college. There's nothing like it. I think it's great for the area."
Dawkins admitted he didn't fully understand the scope of the Duke-UNC rivalry prior to enrolling.
"I didn't know when I was being recruited that it was such a big rivalry," Dawkins said. "Then I went down there to play and I'm hearing the different chatter. Then when you live down there and people recognize you as players, Carolina fans would say things. Or put stuff on your door. Put stuff on your car. Vice versa I'm sure. Then you realize, man, this is kind of a big deal. People are really up for this game. The whole area was locked in and waiting to see what would happen."
I asked whether the off-court stuff got out of hand, perhaps being heckled in public by UNC fans. He laughed and said it wasn't quite that intense.
"It was more low key than that," Dawkins said. "A sticker here, or a note on your door. 'Hope Duke loses.' Same thing with your car. Underneath your windshield wiper maybe a note that said something. It was all tastefully done. Nothing that was really bad. But it let you know that it's on tonight. It's gonna be a big game. You better be ready for it."
Shifting back to UCF, Dawkins commented on the continued growth of freshman point guard Darius Johnson and what he needs to continue to improve upon.
"He needs to continue to stay aggressive and continue to learn our system," Dawkins said. "He's playing well. He's getting better every game. I think conference play has been really good for him and he's grown a lot. As he continues to become the player we see him becoming, he's going to take the team over. He has that type of personality. He's ultra-competitive. He's a tough player. He has a good basketball IQ. We see the ball going into his hands as he continues to develop. He's tracking in the right direction."
Mamadou N'Diaye is the newcomer to Dawkins' coaching staff this season, helping to tutor the big men. N'Diaye, a native of Senegal, played collegiately at Auburn and spent a decade playing professionally including the NBA.
"He's brought a lot of experience," Dawkins said. "He's gone through a lot. He's had to work like crazy, like all of us, to make it in the NBA. Just the whole journey and what it takes, the attention to detail and the work ethic. When you apply that to working with young people, you can't help but help them get better. I think he's a great addition because he's going to help our young bigs really continue to improve because of how he had to work to improve to become the player he became.
"In the locker room, the credibility he has. Having done something every player in that locker room would like to do, that's the dream of all these young players, he's the perfect guy to listen to because who knows better than someone who has already done it. I think having another person like that on your staff adds to what we want."
N'Diaye was a big reason Cheikh Mbacke Diong transferred to UCF for his final season.
"We're in position to win because of Mbacke," Dawkins said. "He comes in every day and works. He leads. With his leadership and his work ethic, it permeates through our team. Excited to have him. Of course he and Mamadou are close because of the prior relationship. Really have enjoyed getting to know Mbacke myself and what he's done for our team is terrific. Our guys love him. You can see by how hard they play for him on the court."
As far as recruiting, UCF already has a pair of 2022 signees in the Hendricks twins - Taylor Hendricks and Tyler Hendricks - both of whom signed in November. The duo attend Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale and they were in Central Florida this past weekend to take part in the Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament.
On Friday, Taylor Hendricks scored 17 points in a 54-51 win against. Dr. Phillips. Calvary Christian then lost the championship game to Montverde in overtime, 79-76. Hendricks had 15 points in that game, making the All-Tournament team.
"We got a chance to see them on Friday against Dr. Phillips," Dawkins said. "It was a good game to watch. They played well. It was a good win by them. Then an overtime loss to Montverde. They have a really good team and they're playing well."
Rivals ranks Taylor Hendricks a four-star prospect and the No. 87 player in the nation.
"It's important because you want to be bringing in that caliber of player," Dawkins said. "We should be able to bring that type of talent here at UCF and we are. I think that's more for us to build on. We're excited to have those guys as part of our family. They're excited to be here and to help take UCF to new heights."
I ended by asking what the forthcoming Big 12 move is doing for recruiting.
"It's all positive feedback," Dawkins said. "Everybody is excited about the move. They think it's going to continue to help us grow our program. We're looking forward to it. We're not finished recruited by any stretch of the imagination. Now with the portal and different opportunities to recruit, the more high school players that are available towards the end of this year, we want to make sure we find the right pieces to fit who we are at UCF on and off the court."
I was able to catch up with head coach Johnny Dawkins and guard Darius Perry earlier today. Here's a recap of those conversations.
Darius Perry
Being a rivalry matchup, I asked Darius Perry about his personal experience with rivalries beginning with high school. He played at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Ga.
"Walton (was our rival)," Perry said. "One time they had Ryan Harrow and the rivalry was pretty big. The gyms were definitely packed. They were real big games. It was nasty every time."
(Harrow played at Walton in the late 2000s and later would play collegiately at NC State, Kentucky and Georgia State).
Perry then briefly reflected on the Louisville-Kentucky rivalry he experienced during his years at UL.
"I didn't realize how serious the rivalries were," Perry said. "The Walton-Wheeler one was kind of serious, but it wasn't family ties serious. Kentucky-Louisville was that way. That was the biggest rivalry I've been a part of. I'm ready for this one against USF."
UCF lost to South Florida 75-51 back on Jan. 15, which easily ranks as their worst loss of the year in terms of performance (UCF shot 33 percent and were outrebounded 53-26) and level of opponent (South Florida has a NET ranking of 236).
"(Coach Dawkins) definitely brings it up so it stays in front of our minds," Perry said. "So we keep that fire in our chest to go out there and compete with them. That loss doesn't define us. We lost pretty bad when we went there, but now they've got to come here."
Perry believed their focus wasn't where it should have been during that first meeting.
"Just play harder," Perry said when asked what's got to change this time around. "I think last time they played harder than us. They really wanted that game. They embraced the rivalry. I think we have to do the same thing."
==
Johnny Dawkins
First off, Johnny Dawkins briefly reflected on that first game at South Florida.
"It wasn't our best performance," Dawkins said. "Give them credit. I thought USF played well and we didn't play as well. We need to play better. We understand that. I think our guys are going to prepare that way."
What needs to change this time around?
"Rebound the basketball," Dawkins said. "That's got to be something we really concentrate on. They doubled us up in rebounding. That was tremendous effort by them. We have to do a lot better job of rebounding the ball on both ends of the floor."
Similarly to the question posed to Darius Perry, I asked Dawkins if he had a high school rival.
"DeMatha was our rival," Dawkins said. "They were the best program in our area and one of the best programs in the nation. Everybody wanted to win against them. I had that in high school. Then of course Duke-North Carolina, had that for four years in college. There's nothing like it. I think it's great for the area."
Dawkins admitted he didn't fully understand the scope of the Duke-UNC rivalry prior to enrolling.
"I didn't know when I was being recruited that it was such a big rivalry," Dawkins said. "Then I went down there to play and I'm hearing the different chatter. Then when you live down there and people recognize you as players, Carolina fans would say things. Or put stuff on your door. Put stuff on your car. Vice versa I'm sure. Then you realize, man, this is kind of a big deal. People are really up for this game. The whole area was locked in and waiting to see what would happen."
I asked whether the off-court stuff got out of hand, perhaps being heckled in public by UNC fans. He laughed and said it wasn't quite that intense.
"It was more low key than that," Dawkins said. "A sticker here, or a note on your door. 'Hope Duke loses.' Same thing with your car. Underneath your windshield wiper maybe a note that said something. It was all tastefully done. Nothing that was really bad. But it let you know that it's on tonight. It's gonna be a big game. You better be ready for it."
Shifting back to UCF, Dawkins commented on the continued growth of freshman point guard Darius Johnson and what he needs to continue to improve upon.
"He needs to continue to stay aggressive and continue to learn our system," Dawkins said. "He's playing well. He's getting better every game. I think conference play has been really good for him and he's grown a lot. As he continues to become the player we see him becoming, he's going to take the team over. He has that type of personality. He's ultra-competitive. He's a tough player. He has a good basketball IQ. We see the ball going into his hands as he continues to develop. He's tracking in the right direction."
Mamadou N'Diaye is the newcomer to Dawkins' coaching staff this season, helping to tutor the big men. N'Diaye, a native of Senegal, played collegiately at Auburn and spent a decade playing professionally including the NBA.
"He's brought a lot of experience," Dawkins said. "He's gone through a lot. He's had to work like crazy, like all of us, to make it in the NBA. Just the whole journey and what it takes, the attention to detail and the work ethic. When you apply that to working with young people, you can't help but help them get better. I think he's a great addition because he's going to help our young bigs really continue to improve because of how he had to work to improve to become the player he became.
"In the locker room, the credibility he has. Having done something every player in that locker room would like to do, that's the dream of all these young players, he's the perfect guy to listen to because who knows better than someone who has already done it. I think having another person like that on your staff adds to what we want."
N'Diaye was a big reason Cheikh Mbacke Diong transferred to UCF for his final season.
"We're in position to win because of Mbacke," Dawkins said. "He comes in every day and works. He leads. With his leadership and his work ethic, it permeates through our team. Excited to have him. Of course he and Mamadou are close because of the prior relationship. Really have enjoyed getting to know Mbacke myself and what he's done for our team is terrific. Our guys love him. You can see by how hard they play for him on the court."
As far as recruiting, UCF already has a pair of 2022 signees in the Hendricks twins - Taylor Hendricks and Tyler Hendricks - both of whom signed in November. The duo attend Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale and they were in Central Florida this past weekend to take part in the Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament.
On Friday, Taylor Hendricks scored 17 points in a 54-51 win against. Dr. Phillips. Calvary Christian then lost the championship game to Montverde in overtime, 79-76. Hendricks had 15 points in that game, making the All-Tournament team.
"We got a chance to see them on Friday against Dr. Phillips," Dawkins said. "It was a good game to watch. They played well. It was a good win by them. Then an overtime loss to Montverde. They have a really good team and they're playing well."
Rivals ranks Taylor Hendricks a four-star prospect and the No. 87 player in the nation.
"It's important because you want to be bringing in that caliber of player," Dawkins said. "We should be able to bring that type of talent here at UCF and we are. I think that's more for us to build on. We're excited to have those guys as part of our family. They're excited to be here and to help take UCF to new heights."
I ended by asking what the forthcoming Big 12 move is doing for recruiting.
"It's all positive feedback," Dawkins said. "Everybody is excited about the move. They think it's going to continue to help us grow our program. We're looking forward to it. We're not finished recruited by any stretch of the imagination. Now with the portal and different opportunities to recruit, the more high school players that are available towards the end of this year, we want to make sure we find the right pieces to fit who we are at UCF on and off the court."
