NCAA Basketball: Ranking teams in 2019 Wooden Legacy Tournament

By Joey Loose | Jul 14, 2019

TUCSON, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 07: Head coach Sean Miller of the Arizona Wildcats talks with Ira Lee #11, Brandon Randolph #5 and Dylan Smith #3 during the second half of the NCAAB game against the Washington Huskies at McKale Center on February 07, 2019 in Tucson, Arizona. The Huskies defeated the Wildcats 67-60. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 24: Tacko Fall #24 of the UCF Knights huddles with his team prior to the second round game against the Duke Blue Devils of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

6. UCF

In his first three seasons, head coach Johnny Dawkins has done a remarkable job to rebuild the culture at UCF. The former Duke star won a pair of NIT titles as head coach at Stanford, but had his eyes on a bigger prize last season. His Knights came ridiculously close to upsetting the top-ranked Blue Devils in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, with a pair of shots rolling off the rim in the closing seconds.

However, this Knights team will look remarkably different next season. Tacko Fall, Aubrey Dawkins, and B. J. Taylor (who combined to score 42+ ppg) are all gone, while the team loses talent across the board. The Knights bring aboard a recruiting class full of talent, including 7’1 center Moses Bol and Tony Johnson, a high-octane scorer. They also add transfers like Dazon Ingram (Alabama) and Yuat Alok (TCU). There will be plenty of opportunities for these new recruits to meld into a decimated roster, though this team will surely take a step back from last year’s great run.

The Knights will travel across the country for their first Wooden Legacy and will match up against Penn in the first round. Juniors Colin Smith and Ceasar DeJesus will be the likely leaders on the offensive end, but can this team figure things out to contend in the AAC again this season? Obviously, they aren’t going to be able to replace the kind of player that Tacko Fall was, nor is there an athletic guard like Dawkins on this roster anymore. Dawkins has certainly replenished the cupboard, but Bol and Smith and the other Knights have big shoes to fill.

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