ORLANDO (UCFKnights.com) – Tacko Fall is back. UCF's star center announced on Wednesday that he will not declare for this summer's NBA Draft. Instead, Fall said he will return to the Knights for his final season in hopes to leave a legacy at a school and with a program that has meant so much to him over the last three years.
"It left a feeling of unfinished business," Fall said of the injury-plagued 2017-18 campaign. "This is not the way I want to leave this school. I came here to do something big. I feel like before I leave here, I gotta leave my mark. That's what really weighed into my decision to stay."
A year ago tomorrow, Fall was announcing that he was entering the draft, testing the waters, seeing what professional opportunities were out there. After working out for five NBA teams, he eventually made the decision to withdraw his name and return to school for his junior season.
"Last year when I went through the process, I got a lot of good feedback," Fall said. "I had the opportunity to make the move, but it wasn't what I really wanted. I thought I could do better."
Fall came back to a team that was poised to take another big step forward under head coach Johnny Dawkins. The Knights were coming off a run to the NIT semifinals, had a majority of the team back, and were adding a number of transfers, including Dawkins' highly touted son, Aubrey.
Before the season even started, Aubrey tore his labrum and was out for the season. In game one, all-conference point guard B.J. Taylor broke his foot and missed half the year. Taylor's first game back, a home matchup against Cincinnati, would be Fall's last.
After dealing with a hip injury to start the season, the 7-foot-6 center fought through a shoulder problem for 16 games before deciding it was too much. Fall underwent shoulder surgery in January and missed the final 14 contests of the year.
"We had everything we needed. We had all the pieces. Unfortunately, we got hit by injuries," Fall said. "Things happened that I couldn't control. Having all those injuries really changed everything.
"They say you learn a lot from those kinds of things and I did," he went on to say about how this past season ended. "I thought about a lot of things, and it was depressing at first, but I had the right group of people around me, helping me through it."
When it came time to make his decision this time around, the Knights' single-season record holder for blocked shots and field goal percentage knew what to do.
"Orlando's like my second home," he said. "The way this year ended. The way our season ended. The way that my season ended. I just didn't want to leave the school like that."
Fall is completely focused. He's focused on getting healthy and improving on and off the court for his last season in black and gold.
"I feel like these last couple months, sitting out, have helped me get better mentally," he said. "I'm a lot more mature. I've been studying the game a lot. Now, I have plenty of time to get stronger and get ready to be back on the court."
Scheduled to graduate next spring, the opportunity to come back for one more year in the classroom is an added bonus for Fall.
"My education has always been very important to me," he said. "I'm excited to be able to get another year of academics at such a great university and finish what I've started by earning my degree."
Fall will be back for his final season in 2018-19. Taylor, UCF's leading scorer each of the last two seasons, will be back for his final season. UCF returns over 75 percent of its scoring and rebounding from last year, and adds Dawkins, George Washington transfer Collin Smith, and high flying freshman Dre Fuller to the mix.
"That was one of the reasons I came to UCF in the first place, to leave a mark," Fall concluded. "I came to UCF to do something that's never been done here. That's something that will make me very proud. To come here, in this town that really embraced me, really helped me through some tough situations, being able to do something big for this town would mean a lot to me."
RENEW FOR 2018-19
It's time to renew your tickets for the 2018-19 season! This year's deadline for renewal is April 16. Fans are encouraged to renew their UCF Basketball tickets today by calling (407) 823-1000 (Option 2) or visiting UCFKnights.com.