UCF Athletics History
 |  | FTU's Early Athletics Programs; UCF First Champions In its early days, the Florida Technological University's athletic program was a shoestring operation without any shoes to lace up. Frank Rohter, FTU's original athletics director, first formed a basketball team to play in Orlando's recreational league. With almost no money for sports, it was up to students and staff to get things started. Special Collections librarian Norbert St. Clair wanted a soccer team, so Rohter bought him a ball, and the makeshift team practiced behind the library, using trees as goal posts. When a student asked for a baseball team, he was given some equipment and permission to play at a local high school. more |
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 | | The Early Years Timeline When it all began. Dr. Frank Rohter becomes the school's Director of Athletics, taking over for Richard Hunter who served briefly in that capacity. Just three days after the University official began classes, October 7, the school's associate and special collections librarian, Norbert St. Clair, had six students kicking a ball in a field behind the library, using their coats as goalposts. "It was exactly like kids on a playground," says St. Clair, the "Father of Knight Soccer." more |
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| UCF Men's Basketball Top 40 All-Time The 2008-09 campaign marks the UCF men's basketball program's 40th season. To commemorate the anniversary, UCF is unveiling the top-40 players in school history. Members of the UCF athletics communications office worked with UCF basketball historian Bill Beekman to select the best players who finished their collegiate careers as Knights. One player from the list will be recognized each Thursday at UCFAthletics.com. more | |
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| A Season of Scoring with Bo Clark Bo Clark wasted little time in alerting the college basketball world that he was back. After missing the previous campaign due to foot and knee injuries, UCF's junior guard quickly made a statement in the Knights' 1978-79 season opener at Flagler. Playing all 40 minutes, Clark scored 44 points on 19-of-38 shooting from the field in UCF's 102-91 victory on Nov. 28. The season opener was an indicator of the staggering scoring numbers that would follow for Clark. Starring at UCF from 1975-80, Clark played under his father, Torchy, the program's first head coach. One of the most prolific scorers in NCAA Division II history, Clark totaled a school-record 2,886 points during his career. He owns every scoring record in program history. Many of the records that Clark broke belonged to his brother Mike, who played for the Knights from 1969-73, scoring 2,085 points. more | |
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 | | Men's Basketball Standout Jermaine Taylor One of the nation's premier players, Jermaine Taylor is enjoying one of the best individual campaigns in UCF history. The senior is averaging 26.2 points per game, good for third nationally. In Conference USA play, the shooting guard averaged 29.1 points. Taylor has been named the C-USA Player of the Year and also earned a spot on the All-C-USA First Team. He also garnered all-district honors from both the NABC and the USBWA. more |
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 | | UCF Baseball in the Pros more |
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 | | UCF Women's Basketball History and Records The UCF women's basketball team has twice advanced to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship and earning an automatic bid to the "big dance." In 1996, the Knights became the first team in A-Sun history to come into the A-Sun tournament as a sixth seed and win. UCF, picked to finish fourth in preseason polls, defeated Southeastern Louisiana, Stetson and Florida Atlantic to win the A-Sun Championship. UCF, which had never been to the NCAA Tournament as an NCAA Division I school, earned a 16-seed in the NCAA Tournament. UCF went to Ruston, La., to take on top-seeded Louisiana Tech in the first round of the NCAA Midwest regional. UCF lost, 98-41. In 1999, UCF fi nished the season with a 20-10 overall record, the best in school history since 1984-85. The Knights won 11 regular season A-Sun games, finished the A-Sun regular season in fi rst place, and swept through the A-Sun Tournament, defeating Stetson, Georgia State and Jacksonville State. Again the Knights were given a 16-seed and took on Louisiana Tech in the first round of the West Regional in the NCAA Tournament. UCF lost, 90-48. more |
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 | | Softball Sensation All-American Allison Kime Allison Kime holds almost every program pitching record at UCF and clinched another in the series finale with Memphis on Sunday. After fanning 23 batters over the weekend, Kime broke her single-season strikeout record of 266 Ks from 2007, totaling 270 this season. Her 2007 mark broke her previous single-season strikeout record of 222 in 2006. Kime also moved up to No. 5 on the Conference USA all-time strikeout register, while distancing herself from the pack at the top spot on the UCF career record charts. more |
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