AAC Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

By Joey Loose | Jul 10, 2020

ARLINGTON, TX - APRIL 07: Phillip Nolan #0, Shabazz Napier #13, his mother Carmen Velasquez, and head coach Kevin Ollie of the Connecticut Huskies look on after defeating the Kentucky Wildcats 60-54 in the NCAA Men's Final Four Championship at AT&T Stadium on April 7, 2014 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

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CINCINNATI, OH – FEBRUARY 19: Head coach Johnny Dawkins of the UCF Knights (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

6. Johnny Dawkins – UCF (2016-2020)

After playing for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke in the 1980’s, Dawkins embarked on a decent NBA playing career before returning to the Blue Devils as an assistant. He got his shot as a head coach at Stanford, leading the Cardinal to a Sweet Sixteen and a pair of NIT titles in his eight seasons. After the Cardinal parted ways with him, he landed at UCF and has done some pretty solid work with this Knights program.

Certainly known more for football these days, Dawkins made an impact, both in recruiting and on-court coaching. His first team made the NIT semifinals and won 24 games, though the 2019 team was the clear highlight. With studs like Tacko Fall and his son Aubrey, the Knights returned to the NCAA Tournament and came inches away from knocking out top-seeded Duke in the second round.

His 83 wins in four seasons is clearly progress for this program, even if they could only fare a ninth-place finish this past season. Dawkins has already done impressive work with the Knights and perhaps the best is yet to come for this program. Dawkins has shown he is another solid piece of Krzyzewski’s coaching tree, even if he couldn’t pull the ultimate upset over his mentor last season.