UCF Basketball: Why Keyshawn Hall is the most important team transfer for 2024-25

A program not exactly known for their basketball, UCF is fresh off a decent debut in the Big 12. The Knights’ only trip to the Big Dance under Johnny Dawkins came five seasons ago but there’s still bee decent ball played by this program in Orlando. Although they did finish just 11th in the Big 12 last season, is there talent on this roster to actually compete in this league?

The great news for the Knights is that they actually return their two top players from last season, as junior guards Darius Johnson and Jaylin Sellers are both back for their senior years. Both averaged at least 15 points a game and were critical in a solid first year in the Big 12. Outside of that, most of the rest of the depth is gone, including senior starters Shermarri Allen and Ibrahima Diallo and a decent list of transfers.

Fortunately, Dawkins and his staff were active in recent months and replenished that roster using the same Transfer Portal. They grabbed a few veteran pieces from the ACC, landing Georgia Tech guard Dallan Coleman and Syracuse forward Benny Williams. The Knights found young potential with former Memphis forward JJ Taylor and got an intriguing scorer and shooter in Jordan Ivy-Curry from UTSA.

The best among the group is certainly Keyshawn Hall, a power forward from Cleveland who took a major step forward last season as a sophomore at George Mason. Hall took the prep school route in high school and then found little playing time as a freshman with UNLV, but really exploded with the Patriots. Hall put up 16.6 points and 8.1 rebounds a game with decent shooting clips, earning himself Second Team All-A-10 honors.

Last season, Hall was a major part of a 20-win season at George Mason, emerging as one of the league’s best rebounders and all-around players. The initial question is how Hall transitions from the A-10 to the Big 12 after this enormous step forward as a sophomore. While he was playing mid-major ball, it’s not like he was beating up on low-major competition and does have the size and skills to compete as a high-level rebounder and athlete in a much stronger league.

It’s important to remember that while Hall is now the best rebounder for the Knights, they aren’t going to necessarily need 16 points a night from him. Those two returning seniors in the backcourt provide plenty of pop and experience, meaning less pressure will be on Hall and the other new faces in the lineup. We’re not saying that these transfers have zero pressure, but it’s such a different equation having a few established starters already in this lineup.

If you’re a fan of UCF then you’re going to be a fan of Hall’s game this coming season. He plays hard, scores all over the floor, and should fit nicely into another new situation. The biggest question becomes how he deals with that uptick in competition. Has UCF done enough this offseason to put themselves in NCAA Tournament conversation? Can Hall’s game take another step forward as a junior?