July 17, 2009
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ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - With an abundance of underclassmen, the UCF men's basketball team will have a young and exciting look in 2009-10. Thanks to an impressive recruiting class, plus the return of several key letterwinners, the Knights should be fun to watch this season.
Season tickets for the campaign are currently on sale. New season ticket orders are currently being accepted by the UCF ticket sales office at (407) UCF-1000 or by visiting UCFAthletics.com. Head coach Kirk Speraw's team will open the slate on Nov. 13, hosting UMass at the UCF Arena.
UCF's complete schedule will be announced soon. Single-game tickets are slated to go on sale in the fall.
Fans looking to learn more about the arena's premium seating options, including club seats, courtside tables and suites, should contact the UCF ticket sales office.
Youth Movement
For the second-straight season, UCF will again be one of the youngest squads in the nation
The roster includes 10 underclassmen and only four upperclassmen
Six freshmen, including two redshirts, are listed on the roster
UCF has no scholarship seniors and just two scholarship upperclassmen
Last season, UCF was the fifth-youngest team in the country
Top-Notch Recruiting Class
Head coach Kirk Speraw and his staff landed the top recruiting class in program history
ESPN.com and Scouts, Inc., listed UCF's class as the seventh-best "non-BCS" group in the country
Led by forward Keith Clanton, who was rated as the 68th-best senior in the country by Rivals.com, the class also features Nik Garcia, Marcus Jordan and R.J. Scott
Replacing Jermaine
An All-America selection, Jermaine Taylor handled most of the scoring duties a year ago for UCF, ranking third nationally at 26.2 points per game
The shooting guard, who was named the 2008-09 Conference USA Player of the Year, was selected 32nd overall in the 2009 National Basketball Association Draft by Washington, and was then traded to Houston
Taylor averaged 29.1 points in C-USA action and earned a spot on the Basketball Times All-America Third Team
UCF's coaching staff does not expect one player to take over Taylor's scoring role
Instead, they hope that several players show off improved games in 2009-10
Follow the Leader
A.J. Rompza to take the reigns of the team
The diminutive point guard is not afraid to be a vocal leader
A Conference USA All-Freshman Team pick in 2008-09, he ranked 32nd nationally in assists per game at 5.1
He averaged 4.3 points per game last year, but with Taylor (and his 26.2 points per game) now gone, expect Rompza to look more for his own shot
Going Deep
UCF has one of the nation's top 3-pointer shooters in sophomore guard Isaac Sosa
He connected on 57 treys as a freshman, shooting 45.2 percent
Sosa made eight starts at shooting guard and averaged 8.2 points
He spent the summer of 2009 competing for Puerto Rico at the FIBA U19 World Championship in New Zealand
The shooting guard helped Puerto Rico place sixth at the 16-team tournament as he averaged 9.6 points in nine contests
Sosa shot 46.2 percent from deep, hitting 18 triples
He had two of his best games in Auckland at the start of the tournament
Sosa shot 4-of-6 from deep and totaled 18 points in Puerto Rico's win over Lithuania to open the event
The following day, he made 6-of-7 attempts from 3-point range and finished with 20 points versus Greece
The Upper Hand
One of the few upperclassmen on the team, junior forward A.J. Tyler will be expected to provide more offense and rebounding for the Knights
In his first year of action at UCF after transferring from Clemson, he averaged 7.1 points and 4.4 boards last season
Tyler made nine starts at power forward and shot 53.7 percent from the field
Welcome Back
UCF will have the services of redshirt freshman forward Dave Diakite in 2009-10
The athletic Diakite appeared in just five contests before suffering a season-ending injury in late November
The Washington, D.C., product averaged 2.2 points and 3.6 boards and grabbed at least five boards in three of the five contests he played in
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.