Add A-10 to the list of top conferences which UCF has defeated on this young season! It wasn’t a pretty game, but we sure are learning how to win in a variety of ways. Marcus Jordan appeared to be on his way to missing the game due to injury but talked Donnie into inserting him with about 15 minutes to go in the 2nd half and then he never came out. It was great to have his calming presence in there!
For those that missed, here are highlights of the game from the UMass Athletics site on YouTube:
Earlier this year the UCF football team became the first to ever be ranked at UCF, well the basketball team followed suit today as they were ranked #24 in the AP Top 25! UCF now has both major sports ranked in the Top 25 which is something that only 5 schools in the nation can claim, none of the others being from Florida. Additionally UCF can surely claim State Champs in Florida for basketball considering they’ve beaten UF, Miami, and USF among others.
Obviously this is creating some great national publicity for the team, and here is a nice article that is on the front page of CBSSports.com
Nothing special but maybe some folks who didn’t make it to the game would care to watch. This is the 9 sec timeout and then a little bit after the game. What a great moment for UCF fans! Thanks so much to Donnie Jones and the entire basketball team for putting in the hard work to make this happen!
While my computer was taking a vacation and the football team was busying dominating C-USA, we’ve had a pleasant surprise with the basketball team so far! They are 7-0 to start the Donnie Jones era with big wins over past, current, and future rivals with Stetson, USF, and then #16 Florida. That is how you generate buzz and build momentum within the fan base!
As someone who was a huge supporter of Kirk Speraw I was not thrilled with what happened last year,but Donnie has made me a believer with his incredible recruiting pickups, up-tempo style of play, and most importantly the wins on the court. This team is a blast to watch and if Marcus Jordan keeps going at his current pace he’ll likely replace, or at least join, Daunte and Kevin as the face of the UCF sports program. He is helping us get love from national media that our basketball team has never seen. In case you live in a cave here are the two plays that have generated the greatest buzz so far:
Two looks at the drive vs the Gators, the top video I think shows the best angle:
Then there is the play I’ll refer to as “The Dunk & Salute” vs Stetson:
Be sure you come on out this Saturday to watch Jermaine Taylor and Kenrick Zondervan’s last home basketball games at UCF. They deserve all the support we can get!
UCF 2009 Men’s Basketball Conference Highlight Video
This was uploaded by the UCF Video dept on the UCFAA channel of YouTube. Takes the video and adds the feed of 740am with Marc Daniels and Mike O’Donnel calling the game. A must watch ending to an epic game! I love it when Tulsa comes to town!!!
Rompza buzzer beater lifts Knights over Tulsa 74-72
He points out how this community is really missing something special in it’s own backyard. The only irony is part of the reason could be blamed on the paper which has done a poor job of highlighting this fact to its readers. Hopefully people will catch on soon because there are only a few games left where Orlando can watch Jermaine live this season. Come on our Orlando!
Our rivals to the west have been able to say SCOREBOARD for awhile in terms of basketball & football for way too long now, but not anymore. We have the last laugh as UCF beat USF last night in front of a great atmosphere in the UCF Arena. I took some pictures and video that I’ll hopefully post a big later but someone else has already added a video of the end of the game showing the type of atmosphere we had. Check that out below.
The game was a blast, thanks to Kirk and the boys for finally taking the Bulls down!
Welcome to Keith Clanton who signed a national letter of intent with UCF today! Clanton is a huge pickup for Kirk and the Knights, without a doubt one of the biggest signings in UCF basketball history. He is a 6’8 power forward who plays locally at Orlando Christian Prep with a great resume including:
1A basketball player of the year in the state of Florida
MVP of the AAU National Championship
2007-2008 Orlando Sentinel player of the year.
Florida Class 1A All-State First Team
Led Orlando Christian Prep to a state title & 27-2 record
