UCF Basketball: Tacko Fall returning for junior season
Tacko Fall makes his official decision to return to UCF for the 2017-18 season and will be a big boost for the defense.
The Central Florida Knights basketball program got a big boost Wednesday morning with the report of Tacko Fall leaving the NBA Draft and returning for his junior season.
Fall confirmed it to ESPN Wednesday morning.
UCF’s Tacko Fall told ESPN he will return to school next season.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) May 24, 2017
The 7’6, 300-pound center initially declared for the draft last month. However, he hadn’t signed with an agent.
That didn’t stop Fall from participating in NBA Draft duties. Recently, Fall did a workout with the Orlando Magic.
Tacko Fall: pic.twitter.com/IaZXZjJDZL
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) May 18, 2017
It certainly would’ve been fun to watch Fall play in the NBA. However, it’s possible that Fall has a solid junior season and improves his NBA Draft stock.
His sophomore season created a lot of excitement at UCF as he averaged 10.9 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game.
Fall won the AAC Defensive Player of the Year, leading the Knights and the conference in multiple defensive categories, as well as a couple of offensive ones.
In 2016-17, Fall led the American Conference in true shooting percentage (.671), two-point field goal percentage (.718), offensive rebounds (129), blocks (2.3 per game), and total rebounds (343).
The return of Fall to the program adds some intrigue to the Knights. UCF was clearly a better team defensively when Fall was on the floor.
With Fall at center, the Knights were sixth in the nation, allowing 61.2 points per game. UCF also led the conference in defensive rebounding and defensive field goal percentage.
UCF Head Coach Johnny Dawkins has to be happy about the news of his star center returning. The Knights had a relatively successful season, despite not making the NCAA Tournament.
With Dawkins in his first season, UCF went 24-12 with an 11-7 record in the AAC. They missed out on the NCAA Tournament but made it all the way to the semifinals in the NIT Tournament and lost to TCU, the eventual champions.
Next: Should Fall leave for NBA?
Another year for Dawkins with Fall could mean bigger things for the Knights. It could mean a long-awaited trip to the NCAA Tournament, which they haven’t done since 2005.
It could be a very fun time in Orlando next season, especially with Fall as part of the team.