April 17, 2013
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By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Eugene McCrory, a talented forward who led his junior college team to the national title in March, and Brandon Goodwin, a guard who was named the Georgia Class AAAAAA Player of the Year as a senior, have joined the UCF men's basketball program's recruiting class, head coach Donnie Jones announced Wednesday.
McCrory, a 6-foot-8, 260-pound Maryland native, was named the MVP of the NJCAA Tournament after guiding the College of Central Florida to the championship. The 6-foot, 175-pound Goodwin led Norcross High School to the 2012-13 state title.
The pair joins guard Steven Haney (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) and post player Justin McBride (Starke, Fla./Bradford) in UCF's recruiting class. The newcomers are slated to enroll at UCF this summer and will compete for the Knights when they embark on their inaugural campaign in the American Athletic Conference in the fall.
"Both Eugene and Brandon are winners. Eugene helped his team win the junior college national championship and Brandon led his team to the Georgia state championship," Jones said. "With this class, we were able to bring in size with Eugene and Justin, shooting with Steven and a point guard in Brandon."
McCrory, an NJCAA All-America Second Team selection, averaged 17.1 points and 6.5 rebounds in 2012-13. He shot 69.6 percent from the floor, good for second in the nation. In the national championship game victory over Northwest Florida State, he scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
"Eugene had a spectacular season," Jones said. "We love his ability to score on the block and run the offense through him. He has a great basketball IQ and will give us some needed depth inside following the loss of Keith Clanton."
McCrory also led the Patriots to the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 Championship and was named the regional tournament MVP after scoring 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting and grabbing seven boards in the title game win over Brevard Community College. He was also selected to the All-Mid-Florida Conference First Team.
Goodwin guided Norcross to a 27-6 record as a senior and was named the Georgia Sportswriters Association Class AAAAAA Player of the Year after averaging 15.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.8 steals. In the state championship game win over Hillgrove, he totaled 22 points and seven boards.
Goodwin received plenty of accolades following his final prep season. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution named him the Gwinnett Player of the Year and he was also the Gwinnett Daily Post Player of the Year. As a junior, Goodwin averaged 15.2 points, 5.6 boards and 2.8 assists.
"Brandon has great quickness and athleticism. He has the ability to score and also the poise to run a team. Brandon is a great fit for our system at point guard and is part of our building a foundation for the future," Jones said.
The new Knights join a UCF program that has recorded three-straight 20-win campaigns under Jones.