UCF Basketball's identity over the last four years has centered around Tacko Fall, a massive presence at 7-foot-6 who developed into a force on both sides of the court.
The future could revolve around another big man from Africa.
Moses Bol, a 7-foot-1 big man attending Colby Community College in Kansas, will arrive Friday for an official visit. The Knights have been evaluating the Sudan native for one of their remaining Class of 2019 spots.
Bol, who is a cousin to Manute Bol and Bol Bol, arrived to the United States two years ago to pursue a basketball future though he had limited experience in the sport. He was discovered by the MPAC Academy, who helped place him at Colby where he's been coached by Rusty Grafel.
"The first time Moses came to the U.S. was when he arrived at our community college," Grafel said. "He played for us his freshman year, even though we got him real late. He got here right before the season. He freshman stats were almost nothing as he was really learning the game. We used a year of eligibility, just trying to bring him along, though it didn't come as fast as we wanted it to."
Though his basketball skills were slower to develop, his success in the classroom came immediately as Bol earned academic All-American honors as a freshman and it's expected he'll repeat that honor this year.
Last offseason was when Bol started to tap into his potential.
"We got to spend all summer with him, which was great," Grafel said. "He gained about 25-30 pounds in the weight room. His hand/eye coordination picked up and his overall comfortability with the game."
That translated to a breakthrough sophomore season.
"If you look at stats, he did okay," Grafel said. "He averaged under six points, six rebounds and 2.2 blocks. But if you know basketball, his presence is what really helped us. We were top three defensively solely because of his presence around the rim. We didn't utilize him enough offensively because we had really good guards that could score, but he's gotten a lot better around the rim. He really bought into protecting the rim and that's what helped us."
Grafel says Bol is advanced athletically for his size.
"He can run," Grafel said. "He's the fastest kid on our team. He runs a 12-minute mile which is crazy for a 7-footer. He flies. He has tools he needs to work on, understanding position and presence, but he can handle the running part and his hand/eye coordination has really improved. He loves the weight room, though he probably needs another 10-15 pounds."
Division I schools began taking notice of him last fall with Georgia and Virginia Tech among those who came in to evaluate him. Along with UCF, Houston Baptist, Hartford, UT Martin, Jacksonville, UC Davis and North Dakota are among the primary schools involved this spring. UCF will be his first visit.
"A coach from UCF watched him in one of our jamborees last fall," Grafel said. "The process picked up more after Christmas. (UCF assistant coach) Robbie Laing came to Colby and watched him in a game. He's been the main connection with us and set up this visit. We had another assistant come to our regional game. Coach (Johnny) Dawkins hasn't seen him live yet, but he'll get to see him when he's down there this weekend."
Grafel said Bol has taken note of how Tacko Fall thrived at UCF. Bol made a point to watch several UCF games on TV, including the recent NCAA Tournament games against VCU and Duke.
"Ever since UCF started recruiting him, though they didn't want to compare him to Tacko, they said there's a lot of similarities in how they utilize bigs in their system," Grafel said. "I think they see the raw talent and how he can get better. His ceiling is very high."
Houston Baptist and Hartford have also been pushing for a visit, but Bol is focused on seeing UCF first.
"In the two years I've been around him, I know the coaching staff and that relationship will be very important to him," Grafel said. "Robbie (Laing) has done a really good job with him. Here in Colby, yesterday it was 75 degrees and today is 35, so being from Sudan I know he's looking forward to that Florida weather. It'll be more like home for him. He hasn't been back in two years, so he's excited about seeing that. He's a big educational guy, so he'll be looking into majors and stuff like that. He's a really good academic kid."
Bol is scheduled to arrive in Orlando late Friday with a full day planned for Saturday. His visit will wrap up Sunday morning.
With UCF graduating impact seniors like Tacko Fall, B.J. Taylor, Chad Brown and Dayon Griffin, plus the likelihood of Aubrey Dawkins opting to begin a professional career, this is a key recruiting period for Dawkins and his staff.
In the past year, UCF has added transfers Ibrahim Famouke Doumbia (via South Carolina) and Yuat Alok (via TCU). In the Class of 2019, Tampa-Wharton shooting guard Darin Green Jr. signed in the early period. The Knights have since added commits from JUCO center Avery Diggs and prep school point guard Tony Johnson, both of whom can sign in April.
Based on current roster numbers and commits, UCF has one scholarship remaining though that number could rise if there are postseason departures.
