UCF men’s basketball set for foreign tour of Italy
UCF’s men’s basketball team will embark on a 10-day foreign tour of Italy starting Aug. 6, with the Knights set to play four games against professional teams.
The team will play those games in Milan, Venice, Florence and Rome.
Johnny Dawkins sees the trip as a chance to build camaraderie.
“It’s about chemistry, continuity and team building. This gives us an opportunity to do that,” Dawkins recently told the Sentinel. “How often can I get a team together where their phones don’t work in one place?”
NCAA rules allow one foreign tour every four years. UCF last took advantage of this rule in 2019, when the Knights traveled to Spain.
UCF’s Johnny Dawkins eager to meet Big 12 basketball challenge
“Ever since I started coaching, I take a team overseas,” said Dawkins. “I want them to have that experience like a student who can study abroad for a shorter period. I want them to immerse themselves in the culture and play against some of those teams that have a different style of play.
“I’ve always felt it’s been a positive to do that. You can get so many things out of it.”
UCF posted a 19-15 record last season, the seventh under Dawkins, with the Knights making it to the second round of the NIT before losing to host Oregon, 68-54.
The roster underwent a massive makeover as Lahat Thioune (South Dakota), Brandon Suggs (New Mexico State), Tyem Freeman (Kent State), Jayhlon Young (Memphis), P.J. Edwards (Bowling Green) and Ithiel Horton (Texas) left via transfer.
UCF’s top scorer, Taylor Hendricks, was a first-round NBA draft pick of the Utah Jazz, while guard C.J. Kelly and forward Michael Durr exhausted their eligibility.
Dawkins turned to the transfer portal himself, adding guards Jaylin Sellers (Ball State), Shemarri Allen (Missouri-Kansas City) and Jaykwon Walton (Wichita State), center Ibrahima Diallo (San Jose State) and forward Omar Payne (Jacksonville).
With so many new faces, the trip allows the Knights to bond before the start of camp and prepares for their first season in the Big 12.
“We’ll get some quality time together and we’ll play some games over there,” said Dawkins. “Probably half our team, if not more, have not been out of the country.”
With the majority of college basketball players unlikely to make the NBA, Dawkins believes a trip like this could open up them to playing overseas.
“They see a big world out there where there are more possibilities where they can go and play and make a career out of it,” he said.
Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel.
