UCF is in a Final Four.*
It may not be the NCAA Tournament, but the Knights still have an opportunity to win a championship.
Playing in the inaugural College Basketball Crown, UCF has advanced to the semifinals after opening wins against Oregon State (76-75) and Cincinnati (88-80).
Awaiting is a Saturday matchup against Villanova in the semifinals. The winner of that game will face the Boise State/Nebraska winner for the championship on Sunday. All games have been played in Las Vegas with the first two rounds originating from MGM Grand Arena. The semifinals and championship will be played at T-Mobile Arena.
We caught up with Johnny Dawkins and Darius Johnson late this afternoon on Zoom, about 10 minutes each.
Here's a rundown of the press conference:
Dawkins spoke of the significance of getting a postseason opportunity, said the College Basketball Crown had a great field. With the later start date, he gave the team a week off following the Big 12 tournament before resuming practices.
UCF is playing this week without leading scorer Keyshawn Hall, who a week ago opted out in order to enter the transfer portal. He committed to Auburn earlier this week.
"Keyshawn was a big piece of what we did. I loved coaching him. I thought he did a really good job for us last season. That's the nature of our sport now, guys are going to have opportunities. I think we played a good part of helping him grow his game. I think he probably had one of the best years he's had in college here, which I think bodes well for what we do as a program, as far as skill work, developing guys, guys getting better.
"I think you look across the board, you've seen that through our coaching career. So not just myself, but my staff do an amazing job of that. So, you know, excited for him and his next opportunity."
In total, UCF had eight players enter the transfer portal though many of those players were out with injuries, including Jaylin Sellers, Mikey Williams, Rokas Jocius and Cameron Simpson.
Dawkins said it was up to the players, including the portal entries, whether or not they wanted to participate in the Crown. Nils Machowski and Tyler Hendricks, who also entered the portal, chose to continue playing.
"These young people have options now and that's fine. They have options to make decisions on where they want to be from year to year. And for us, I think the relationship was strong enough that once we got invited, it wasn't even difficult. We went to the guys and said, hey, it's a great opportunity to play in a brand new tournament. We have a chance to compete against some very good teams. And really, it wasn't hard. The guys said, 'I'm in,' save for a few guys who had some other things going and made some different decisions.
"But everyone pretty much stuck around and said, 'Hey, I want to be a part of it. And that's what you see now."
Dawkins said he has "no hard feelings" towards any players that decided to go into the portal. They all have their reasons, some guys are "checking their value" while others just want to see if they have better opportunities.
"That's fine. That's just the world we're in now. So I held nothing against guys that put their name in the portal."
However, Dawkins is not a fan of the timing of the transfer portal window.
"It just makes more sense, I think, for all these tournaments to have the portal maybe open up on Tuesday, the day after the National Championship game. I think that would be a better time to open the portal. That way, everything is completed, after the NCAA Tournament has concluded.
"Then you open it up and give everyone time to make decisions. (Now it disrupts) even the NCAA Tournament, I see guys were entering the portal and they're playing in the NCAA Tournament. I think we can help these young people with regards to that by just the timing of when we do some things and taking a hard look at that, I think will help our game overall."
Asked if Nils Machowski and Tyler Hendricks could have the opportunity to return to UCF, Dawkins did not rule it out.
"Well, all of the above are possible. These things are never over until they're over. But these guys have opportunities and they're making the most out of it.
"I'm just very happy for them again, because they're our guys, they're UCF players. And I think they've developed under our tutelage. So for us, what you're seeing now and everyone's excited about is, is the hard work that they've put in first and foremost.
"I never take credit for a young person and how much he's worked on his game to improve, but I will say, I think our staff does an amazing job of helping young people develop and get better. And I think you've seen that, this week."
Dawkins reiterated the need to delay the portal window in the future as there's no reason teams that are still active should be worrying about recruiting the portal while in the midst of preparing for and playing games.
"It's definitely a challenge, but our guys can multitask. Like I said, maybe start (the portal) after the conclusion of the NCAA Championship game, but these are the rules we're playing by now and we just have to make the most out of them."
Asked about monetary aspect of recruiting now, Dawkins they still try to recruit the "old school way" of developing relationships but acknowledges much of it is "transactional" now.
"We try to get to know people, get to know people around the student athletes that we recruit and then we try to maximize them, try to bring out the best in them. That's always our goal. I'm not going to change our mission statement, which is helping young people to thrive, helping young people to develop and grow. That's not changing while I continue to coach in this game.
"But there are some differences I just mentioned. Transformational is turned into some transactional situations and you have to be able to navigate both. But I think if you have your standards in your program, I think you try to stick to your standards. You try not to compromise those just because the game has changed in a certain way."
Then making a reference to Nils and Tyler, Dawkins said those are the type of character guys he aims to have in his program.
"They've shown a commitment, even though they're making other decisions. They didn't have to play. They could have made other decisions. They could have been on visits now, to be quite frank, and not even with us, because that's allowed. But they decided to stay with us. I think that's because of the type of young people that we've recruited."
Asked flat out whether is system is "sustainable," Dawkins said, "I do not" especially when players are bouncing from school to school.
"I don't think it's in a great position. But that's where we are. A lot of people need to get in the room and have a big discussion and brainstorm on how we can make our game better. But I think the way it's set up right now is very difficult, not just for us, but for the student athletes as well.
"Everybody's looking at the front end of what's going on for our student athletes, but no one's looking on the back end. These young people are in multiple schools over and over. What allegiance are people going to have when they graduate from a university? You've been there for nine months, maybe, in four or five years of college. What is your university?
"That's the one that's really with you, you know, not just the four years that you've gone through college, but the 40 years since you've gone. Do you have any relationships? Did you leave a legacy there? And those are the things that I worry about is not the short term for these young people, but it's the long-term effect of what's going to happen that I don't think they'll see until their playing career in college is over."
Dawkins was on a time crunch and had to leave, so that was the extent of our conversation. We didn't get a chance to ask a bit more about the games or the upcoming semifinal vs. Villanova.
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Darius Johnson then joined us for a few minutes. He was asked if it was more "satisfying" winning a Crown game against Cincinnati, a rival that has certainly had their number the past few years.
"Yeah, I would say it was definitely good to get them back. They definitely got us at home this year, and I think they swept us last year. It's definitely good to get them back in the tournament here."
Tyler Hendricks is coming off season highs in the first two Crown games with 15 points against Oregon State and 14 against Cincinnati. In fact, the Oregon State game was a double-double as he had 10 rebounds as well.
"I'm not surprised at all. Tyler's been a great player. I just feel like it's been unfortunate he hasn't played a lot of minutes, but he's getting the opportunity now and he's making the most of it. He stepped up and he's making a lot of big time shots and big time plays.
"As a team and as the coaching staff, I know that they believe because they recruited the kid and as a team, we know that he's capable of making those shots."
DJ said it "means a lot" that he's able to extend his career by playing in the Crown.
"I thought my season was over, so to be able to come back and still have a chance to play and to be able to compete and prove myself to the world, it means a lot. My senior season isn't over. Other guys, their season isn't over. We still have a lot to play for. It's great to be able to still keep the UCF jersey on and continue to hoop."
DJ praised the tournament format with all teams assembled in Las Vegas, and it's really cool to play for NIL money as well. DJ has visited Vegas multiple times so the experience of being there isn't a new experience for him though it might be for some of his teammates. He said the coaching staff has been great with trusting the players so they have had some free time to explore, though everybody has been responsible about getting their rest.
By clinching a spot in the semifinals, UCF players will split $50,000 in NIL from Vivid Seats. If they advance to the championship, the number increases to $100,000. And if they win it all? $300,000.
"That's what college basketball is transitioning to. We're getting paid to play basketball, so they're paying us like professionals and treating us like professionals. It's a great opportunity to be able to play for money.
"Our coach always tells us you play for two things in life, and that's pride or money. So, I think right now our team, we're playing for both. I feel like we're playing for the pride because we came here and no one thought we were going to win. Everyone probably thought we were going to lose to Cincinnati. We wouldn't be going far in this tournament. They counted us out.
"So, I think that's a little bit of pride aspect, and then you get the money benefits. Who doesn't want free money?"
Asked about Nils and Tyler's future plans, DJ said he'll always be in their corner.
"I wish them the best of luck. I know they're going to be successful wherever they go."
Shifting discussion back to the court, Darius asked how the absence of Keyshawn Hall has changed how they operate offensively.
"I think the offense is running differently. I think the ball is just moving side to side more. I feel like more guys are touching, more guys are able to be ready and be in rhythm to be able to make plays.
"No knock on Keyshawn. Keyshawn was a great offensive player. But we ran a lot of our offense through him. Me and him were getting a lot of the touches, a lot of the shots. And I think now we're getting a lot of shots going throughout a variety of different guys. I want to say probably had a few guys who got more than five shot attempts."
DJ is coming off a 31-point performance against Cincinnati.
"I felt it. I felt like I had a hot hand that game. You know, the game was getting tight, so I just took matters in my own hands. I'm a senior under Coach Dawkins. Been here for four years. He trusts me. My teammates trust me. It's my senior year, so I don't want to look back on this thing having any regrets."
DJ said they fully intend to carry this through the weekend. If they get past Villanova on Saturday, they'd face the winner of Boise State/Nebraska in Sunday's championship game at 5:30 p.m. EST
"Honestly, we're having fun, man. We're honestly just having fun playing together. I think we're all bought in. We know what is at stake right now. We're planning to win a championship. That's the goal.
"But we got to focus on the task at hand. You know, what Coach Dawkins always says, focus on going 1-0. So right now, we got Villanova in our way. We got to make sure that we take care of them."
Villanova's Crown journey has included wins against Colorado (85-64) and USC (60-59). Senior Eric Dixon, a 6-8 forward, is averaging 23.1 points this season. He's been big in both games, coming off a 28-point performance against USC. 24 of those points came in the second half.
DJ was learning more about the matchup, but was already well versed on what Dixon can do.
"From watching them over the past few years, I know they like to run the offense through their guy, Eric Dixon. We're going to have an awareness of him. I know Coach is going to come up with a great scout and, a great way to try to stop him and limit all of his touches to his scoring."
UCF and Villanova will tip off Saturday at 4 p.m. with TV coverage from FOX.
