April 25, 2011
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By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
Reserve your 2011-12 season tickets today
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Dating back to the fall, Donnie Jones' first full recruiting class at UCF has garnered plenty of attention. The most recent praise is from ESPN.com, which rates UCF's group as the 16th-best recruiting class in the country.
UCF is the lone Conference USA program in the top-25, and is also first among all schools from the Sunshine State, checking in ahead of Florida State (19) and Florida (23).
The Knights' class consists of three Floridians, guard/forward Rod Days and forwards Wayne Martin and Kasey Wilson, center Michael Chandler of Indiana and guard Kevin Ware of Georgia. Both Chandler (43) and Ware (94) are members of the elite ESPNU 100. The five of the players are listed in the top 55 among their positions by ESPN.com.
Days, Martin and Wilson all signed NLIs with the Knights in November, while Chandler and Ware joined the recruiting class this month.
All five players shined during their senior seasons. Chandler averaged 19.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per game at Lawrence North High School, and was named to the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association All-State First Team. Days led The Sagemont School in Weston to the Florida Class 2A state title. After averaging 18.8 points, 5.3 boards and 3.0 assists, he was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Class 2A Player of the Year.
Martin had an impressive campaign at Providence Christian in Jacksonville. He averaged 17.3 points and 8.7 rebounds and was selected as the Florida Association of Basketball Coaches Class 2A Player of the Year. Playing for North Port High School, Wilson averaged 21.0 points and 9.0 rebounds and earned a spot on the Florida Athletic Coaches Association All-State Class 6A Team. In leading Rockdale County High School to the Georgia Class AAAA championship game, Ware averaged 19.0 points and 9.0 assists. He was named to the Georgia Sportswriters Association Class AAAA All-State First Team.
The acclaimed recruiting class will join a UCF program that experienced great success during Jones' first campaign in Orlando in 2010-11. The Knights won 21 games, recorded signature non-conference wins over 16th-ranked Florida, Miami, Princeton and USF, entered the national rankings for the first time in program history and won a pair of postseason games.
Fans can now make sure that they are at the UCF Arena to watch the Knights play in 2011-12. Season ticket deposits are currently being accepted by calling the UCF Athletics ticket office at (407) UCF-1000.
ESPN.com Recruiting Class Rankings
1. Kentucky
2. Duke
3. St. John's
4. North Carolina
5. Texas
6. Ohio State
7. Arizona
8. Arkansas
9. Louisville
10. Syracuse
11. Illinois
12. Virginia Tech
13. Georgetown
14. Pittsburgh
15. Rutgers
16. UCF
17. Michigan State
18. Baylor
19. Florida State
20. Washington
21. Mississippi State
22. Oregon
23. Florida
24. West Virginia
25. Oklahoma State