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LOCATION: Orlando, FL
CONFERENCE: Trans America Athletic (TAAC)
LAST SEASON: 19-10 (.655)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 13-3 (2nd)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 2/3
NICKNAME: Golden Knights
COLORS: Black & Gold
HOMECOURT: UCF Arena (5,100)
COACH: Kirk Speraw (Iowa '80)
record at school 86-84 (6 years)
career record 86-84 (6 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Chris Mowry (St. Ambrose '84)
Jorge Fernandez (Stetson '85)
Don Burgess (Radford '94)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 11-11-7-17-19
RPI (last 5 years) 243-219-301-169-102
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in conference final.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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Cory Perry, Mario Lovett, D'Quarius Stewart and Davin Granberry have been together at the University of Central Florida since 1996. So far, the senior nucleus has little to show for it. UCF finished 19-10 last year but was drilled in the TAAC championship game by Samford, 89-61. In its two seasons before, UCF failed to advance beyond the tournament. If UCF is to get past Samford and an improved Georgia State team this season, this foursome must be ready to carry the load. But for starters, they must rid the bad feelings of last season's finish. "Certainly, they're not happy with the way last season went," said Coach Kirk Speraw, entering his seventh season at UCF. "I think we all felt we were good enough and one of the best teams in the conference. We had every right to be in the championship game and every right to win the championship game. "That was a bitter taste that we all had to swallow, not playing up to our capabilities. Certainly we all want to get back to the NCAA tournament. We can be an awfully good basketball team." It certainly will be a very deep team, although UCF, which battled injuries all last season, already has one player it will not be able to count on. Junior forward Beronti Simms (6-7, 205) was looking to break into the starting rotation after giving UCF quality play off the bench with 5.7 points and 3.2 rebounds a game. But he tore a knee ligament in a summer pickup game and underwent season-ending surgery.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT A BENCH/DEPTH B
FRONTCOURT B INTANGIBLES B
This must happen. If UCF is to challenge in the TAAC, its man in the middle has to stay healthy and out of foul trouble. Davin Granberry has shown he can be a force; he just hasn't shown it often enough. Senior forward Mario Lovett can be a very good player in the TAAC and showed plenty of skill around the basket last year, but he needs to fine a complementary player down low. UCF is hoping Senior forward Roy Leath will remember what it was like to be a superstar coming out of high school and give the team some steady play after a disappointing junior season. UCF also will look to Paul Reed or Ikechi Nnakwe to step up and be contributors and for Jason Thornton to avoid a sophomore slump. UCF's backcourt is steady with Cory Perry, who's not flashy but consistent. He won't win many games but he won't lose many either. D'Quarius Stewart has a knack for taking over a game with a smooth scoring touch. This will be the first season he doesn't have to share the scoring load with departed senior Brad Traina and he could have a huge year. Speraw has compiled a typical UCF schedule that's front-loaded with difficult out-of-conference opponents with the hopes it pays off at conference tournament time. How well UCF does then depends on if its senior nucleus is ready to leave the program on a high note. |
"He was getting better and better and creating a much more competitive situation in the front court," Speraw said. "He was coming on and probably would have allowed us a little more freedom to move Mario to small forward or something like that. "I'm not sure if we'll still have the ability to do as much of that as maybe we thought we could do depending on matchups with opponents and that type of thing. It takes away some flexibility, it takes away one of our better scorers. He just has a great knack for putting the ball in the hole." Most of the scoring load will fall to Stewart (13.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 74 assists, 32 steals), a 6-2 senior who has improved his averages from 7.5 to 10.3 to 13.9 points a game. "I think he's focused in," Speraw said. "(Forward) Brad Traina graduated and now he maybe feels it's his opportunity to step to the forefront even though he was a big factor in what we've done the last couple of years. "He's as athletic as anybody in the conference. Actually, he's as athletic as anybody in the country." Stewart is joined in the backcourt by 5-11 senior Perry (6.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 146 assists, 46 steals), who set a school record for most assists in a game (14 against Florida Atlantic). He is the school's No. 2 all-time leader in assists with 373. He needs 158 to tie the mark of 531 set by Sinua Phillips (1990-94). Lovett (9.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 54 assists, 20 steals, 13 blocked shots), a 6-7, 225-pound senior, elevated himself into a reliable performer at forward. He led the team in rebounding last season and earned a reputation of being a tough defender. He was often assigned the opponent's top player. Speraw likes the way Lovett handled the challenge and sees no reason he shouldn't take his game to another level. "He improved his perimeter shooting last year and he really stepped up his defense to become one of our better defenders, almost to the point of becoming our defensive stopper," Speraw said. "If he can really focus in on that, he can be a tremendous defender because he's quick enough to defend guards and he's big enough and strong enough to defend on the inside." Granberry (5.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg) has teased Speraw with flashes of dominance through the years but has lost considerable playing time to shoulder injuries. But if he stays healthy and out of foul trouble, Speraw sees no reason Granberry can't be a force in the TAAC with his 6-foot-6, 235-pound frame. Granberry averaged only 14 minutes a game last year but was third on the team with 64 fouls. UCF has one other senior returning in 6-7, 230-pound Roy Leath (3.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg), a Seton Hall transfer who's hoping to improve upon last year's debut. There were big expectations for Leath, who was a high school All-American, but Speraw said he never seemed to get comfortable. "He certainly didn't perform up to his standards and what we thought for him," Speraw said. "But it's a new season, a new start and he'll be there from Day One where last year he had to sit out a few games (to satisfy transfer rules)." Forward Jason Thornton (7.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg), a 6-5 sophomore, earn his share of PT last year with Traina nursing a nagging ankle injury. Thornton responded like an upperclassman by shooting a team-best .430 percent from three-point range. "He was thrown into the fire with Brad Traina's injury a couple of games," Speraw said. "He really played well during that stretch, so hopefully that gives him a lot of confidence to take over that shooting role from Brad." Inyo Cue (3.6 ppg, 1.6 rpg), a 6-4 junior, gives UCF depth off the bench. But he has to find a more consistent shot to be much use to Speraw. Cue shot only .312 percent from the field and tossed up 43 three-point attempts, making only eight. Speraw is excited about an influx of players who will use this year to gain experience and show they can be the program's future. Freshman Al Miller will provide depth at point guard. He comes to UCF from the highly regarded Maine Central Institute and Speraw feels he could have an impact before long. "He has a great feel for the game," Speraw said of the 6-0 Miller. "He likes to deliver the ball before shooting. Other teammates are really going to enjoy playing with him. Hopefully we'll be able to pick up a little more full court with he and Cory being able to go at it a little more in man-to-man, full-court pressure." Also set to make his debut is freshman Ikechi Nnakwe (pronounced I-kay Knock-way), a 6-5 forward from Normanl (Ill.) Community High School who redshirted last season. Another player who could make an impact is Paul Reed, a 6-8, 220-pound junior forward who transferred from Old Dominion. Reed was a second-team Class 6A all-state selection at Orlando Dr. Phillips, where he set the school's career scoring mark. Even with a solid group returning, Speraw knows it will be challenged by an improving conference, plus some strong out-of-conference teams. UCF faces an immediate task in its Nov. 19 season-opener against Miami at home. UCF also is participating in the SoCon Holiday Hoops tournament in South Carolina and will open play against Clemson. Other tough non-TAAC games include Winthrop, South Florida, Ohio and Louisville. "We can be a better team than we were last year and because of our schedule, not win as many games," Speraw said. "You have to look at a lot of those factors when it's all said and done as to how successful you were on a particular year. I thought last year was a very successful year for us. Certainly we didn't reach all of our goals but that can't take away from the success we had."
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