Oct. 13, 2011
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By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
Meet the 2011-12 UCF men's basketball team
Women's Basketball Media Day Photo Gallery
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - For the UCF's men's basketball team, expectations are better known now that the Knights have had a year to digest and play in Donnie Jones' up-tempo style.
And for UCF's women's basketball team, Joi Williams' success means the bar has been raised and expectations are still where they were last season: To win another conference championship and make another run to the NCAA Tournament.
UCF's men's and women's teams went through Media Day on Thursday as a prelude to Friday night's UKNIGHT Madness at UCF Arena. Hopes are high for both programs following stirring runs from the two teams during the 2010-11 season.
UCF's men are hoping that the return of the core of the team combined with a successful summer exhibition trip to Canada will help them hit the ground running when training camp opens on Friday. The Knights won 21 games, climbed into the national rankings for the first time ever and reached the semifinals of the CBI postseason tournament in Jones' first season at UCF. Now, the team is hungry for more and is feeling much more far along after having played a season in Jones' aggressive, attacking system.
``We're 10 times further along than we were this time last year,'' said UCF junior guard Marcus Jordan, who led the team in scoring last season at 15.2 points per game. ``When Coach Jones first got here everybody was kind of nervous and trying to impress the new coach. But now we're familiar with coach and comfortable in his system. We're strides ahead of where we were at this time last season. I think this team has a chance to be really good.''
UCF's women's team was plenty good last season, winning a second C-USA championship in the past three seasons. The Knights also reached the NCAA Tournament where they put a scare into Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio. Now, despite the losses of Chelsie Wiley and D'Nay Daniels, the Knights feel confident they can get back to the NCAA Tournament because of the promising additions of players like Kayli Keough, a Florida State transfer.
``You always want to do better than you did the season before, so we obviously have great expectations. We lost a lot of key players, but we're excited about the group that we have coming back,'' said Williams, who worked with the Team USA Under-19 World Championships Team and won a gold medal in Chile. ``I'm excited about the newcomers that we have coming in here. Kayli Keough sat out last year after transferring and had a great year practicing with us. She knows what to expect and we bring two starters back in Ashia Kelly and Aisha Patrick. And we have some really good young players. So we're looking forward to this season.''
UCF's women open the season at home on Nov. 6 in an exhibition game against Lynn University. They play at South Alabama in the season opener on Nov. 12 and first play at home on Nov. 18 against Florida A&M. UCF hosts key nonconference games against Virginia Tech and Florida State, while playing on the road at Notre Dame.
UCF's men's team has a home exhibition against West Virginia Tech on Nov. 5 and opens the season on Nov. 12 at UCF Arena against Saint Thomas. The Knights play at Florida State on Nov. 14 and will be competing in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas against the likes of Connecticut, College of Charleston and UNC-Asheville Nov. 24-26.
The men's team returns most of the pieces off the squad that started last season 14-0, including landmark victories against Florida, Miami, UMass and South Florida. The Knights slogged through the middle of the season, but rebounded with a flurry to make the postseason. The late-season kick, combined with the progress UCF showed during the three-game jaunt to Canada, has given Jones belief that the Knights can compete for a C-USA title and a NCAA berth this season.
Jones likes the depth of this team, led primarily by returning starters Keith Clanton (14.2 ppg., 7.7 rpg.), A.J. Rompza (6.4 ppg., 3.0 apg.), as well Isaiah Sykes (4.0), P.J. Gaynor (4.8 ppg., 3.2 rpg.) and Jordan. UCF's roster will also be bolstered by the addition of Division I transfers Tristan Spurlock, Josh Crittle and Jeff Jordan.
``We have a lot of guys to play a lot of positions, we're very long and very athletic. But the thing we've focused on is getting tougher and playing smart basketball,'' Jones said.
``Being that it's year two in the system for a lot of these guys has been very helpful from a mentality standpoint. They understand the conditioning that's involved. And getting to spend time together this summer (in Canada) was helpful for the guys and the freshmen as well. It gives us a great start with the young guys coming in and seeing what's expected in this program.''
Kelly, who blossomed into a standout late last season during the postseason, knows another C-USA title is expected of UCF's women's team. The top two scorers are gone, meaning that more offensive production will be needed from Kelly (5.2 ppg.), Patrick (10.7) and dazzling junior guard Genevia Carter (5.8 ppg.).
``We know what the expectations are and coach Williams reminds us from our freshman year to our senior year what we need to do here to be successful,'' Kelly said. ``It's important that we keep winning so that we can build the tradition here and establish a Top 25 program here. That's our ultimate goal.''
John Denton's Knights Insider appears on UCFAthletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.