Oct. 16, 2008
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (UCFAthletics.com) - The college basketball season officially begins tomorrow, but Conference USA marked the start of the campaign Thursday with the league's annual media day at FedEx Forum. Head coach Kirk Speraw and senior guard Jermaine Taylor (Tavares, Fla.) represented the UCF men's program at the event, and head coach Joi Williams attended on behalf of the women's team.
The day was filled with press conferences and interviews for the trio.
Speraw began the day, appearing on the dais with Tulane head coach Dave Dickerson, Tulsa head coach Doug Wojcik and UTEP head coach Tony Barbee. Speraw spoke about the strength of the league, and also talked about his squad.
"This will be by far the most competitive and deepest this league has been in our years here," Speraw said. "It is going to be a tremendously exciting year. I am very excited about our team, although we lost a lot of seniors from a year ago. We have a great group of young men. They are outstanding people first and foremost. We think they are pretty good players, but they are young."
UCF's roster includes seven true freshmen and 11 total underclassmen.
Taylor, an All-C-USA Preseason Team selection, later spoke at a press conference. He was joined on the stage by three of three other members of the preseason team - Tulsa center Jerome Jordan, UAB guard Robert Vaden and UTEP guard Stefon Jackson. Williams also participated in a press conference. She appeared on the dais with Charlene Thomas-Swinson of Tulsa, Audra Smith of UAB and UTEP's Keitha Adams.
"We are again a young team in my second season at UCF. We had nine freshmen last season with eight of them returning this season. Starting all freshmen last year we lost probably seven games last year by seven points or less. Our kids had to kind of figure things out as they went, but I think they got it and they played well in a lot of spots," Williams said.
"We really focused on strength and conditioning in the offseason because our players recognized they got pushed around a lot last year. We got hit a lot last year and could not hit back, and I think we will be able to hit back this year. We are still young and finding our way, but we are excited about starting the season."
Williams ended the day by appearing on CBS College Sports' Conference USA Women's Basketball Media Slam. The show, hosted by Ann Schatz and Debbie, was televised live nationally.
Two hours after Williams was on the program, Speraw and Taylor participated in the network's Conference USA Men's Basketball Media Slam. Seth Davis of CBS and Sports Illustrated and CBS College Sports analyst Pete Gillen hosted the show.
Both UCF's men's and women's program will officially begin the season Friday with practices.
Speraw's squad will open the regular season on Nov. 16, hosting North Carolina A&T. The Knights are slated to play 16 contests at the state-of-the-art facility. The schedule includes a non-conference matchup with cross-state foe USF on Dec. 6 and a C-USA showdown with national power Memphis on Jan. 10.
The women's team will open the regular season on Nov. 16 at Colorado. The Knights' home opener is slated for Nov. 21 at the new UCF Arena against Florida A&M. Williams' team will play 13 games in Orlando.
Season tickets are currently available. To order your season tickets today, and to learn more about premium seating options at the new UCF Arena, contact the UCF ticket sales office at (407) UCF-1000.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.