Big 12 Basketball: Breaking down the 4 reported expansion candidates

UCF Knights

Last but certainly not least is the UCF Knights. Since Johnny Dawkins took over in 2016, he’s shown some encouraging signs including making it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005 during the 2018–2019 season which included UCF’s only NCAA tournament win in school history. Dawkins has accumulated a record of 43-25 (.632) during his time at UCF but has seemingly struggled the last two seasons.

One thing that stands out with UCF is their struggle to recruit high school talent. Being in a state like Florida, there’s an abundance of in-state talent to choose from and Dawkins hasn’t been able to crack a top-75 recruiting class since taking over which is a bit concerning. However, Dawkins has been more than impressive managing the transfer portal adding high-level talent from schools like Oregon, Louisville, Alabama, and TCU in recent years.

This is a very encouraging sign for the Knights as college coaches around the country are learning how vital the portal can be. Joining the Big 12 will undoubtedly boost their programs appeal to high school recruits and hopefully that will lead to more success for a program that lacks NCAA tournament experience.

I do think that Johnny Dawkins is more than capable of turning things around for the Knights and being in a power 5 conference will undoubtedly help their recruiting pitch in the future. They will certainly need to recruit at a higher level should they wish to compete in the Big 12 consistently moving forward.