Feb. 3, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. - Wednesday at UCF Athletics will be busier than usual. All UCF fans should check their schedules and make sure they are around to enjoy a full day's worth of excitement.
The festivities will commence early in the morning with National Signing Day. Wednesday is the first day of the month-long signing period in which high school students can sign a National Letter of Intent in football and the overwhelming majority of recruits across the nation will do so tomorrow morning. UCFAthletics.com will follow the trail of faxes constantly and announce each one as they are received and approved by the athletic compliance office.
UCF head coach George O'Leary will meet with the local media at 3 p.m. to discuss his signees and the press conference will be archived at UCFAthletics.com.
Meanwhile, Knight fans can come over to campus and watch the baseball team practice at Jay Bergman Field at 2:30 p.m. as UCF gears up for Opening Day of the Terry Rooney era in just over two weeks on February 20. Fans will be able to see the sort of energy that Rooney has immediately injected into the school's baseball program. At 1:30 p.m., the Knight softball team, last year's Conference USA Champion, will be holding its final on-campus tune up for its season-opening trip to Tempe, Ariz. this weekend to compete in the Kajikawa Classic. In Arizona, UCF will face several top foes, including No. 2 Arizona State, the defending national champion, and No. 11 Stanford.
Golden Knights Club donors, Bronze level and above, can attend the UCF Football Sign & Dine event, providing them with a chance to hear about the newest members of the Knights football family directly from those who brought them to Orlando. The event, as usual, will feature a variety of food and drinks from several local businesses as well as both a silent and live auction of Knights football items, vacation packages and more, all to benefit the Golden Knights Club and, through it, UCF student-athletes. The event begins at 5 p.m. at The Venue at UCF Arena. Fans in attendance will also receive a free ticket for tomorrow night's men's basketball game against Houston at 7 p.m. and the opportunity to upgrade to a club seat for just $10.
Last but not least, the UCF men's basketball team (15-6, 5-2 C-USA), winners of five in a row, plays host to C-USA power Houston (12-7, 3-3) at 7 p.m. at UCF Arena in a crucial league contest. The game is a "Whiteout" with the first 4,000 UCF students to enter the arena receiving a special white KnightMare T-Shirt, including an exclusive window from 4-5:30 p.m., for 2008 football student season ticket holders to guarantee receiving a shirt. Keeping with the theme of Signing Day, All-American returner Joe Burnett will be honored at halftime and sign copies of a commemorative poster that will be distributed to the first 1,000 fans. The Knights are 11-1 at home this season and hope to continue those winning ways to remain in second place in the league behind only No. 14 Memphis.
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.