ORLANDO – The UCF men’s basketball team had a historic run to the NCAA Tournament in 2018-19 with wins over ranked Houston and Cincinnati, a first round tournament victory over VCU and a near-upset of top seeded Duke. With sights set on a return trip in 2019-20, the Knights will begin preparation with official summer practices and a foreign tour in Spain this August.
In his fourth season at the helm, UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins will bring his squad of mainly new faces to Europe to engage in competition, take in some culture, and build team chemistry on the 10-day tour of Spain.
With the foreign tour comes official practices to get prepped for the trip. The Knights will have 10 practice sessions, beginning Monday, July 22, running through the team’s date of departure, Aug. 6. The squad will then head out that Tuesday and return home Aug. 15.
With stops in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona, the Knights will play three games against the Madrid Generals and a pair of All-Star teams from Valencia and Catalonia.
The foreign tour comes at the perfect time for a team with a number of new names and faces. The Knights return three contributors from last season’s squad in Collin Smith, Frank Bertz and Ceasar DeJesus.
There are 10 Knights on the roster that have not seen time in an official game at UCF, led by graduate transfers Dazon Ingram from Alabama and Matt Milon from William & Mary.
The trip, and official practices leading up to the tour, will be a great opportunity for the newcomers to continue to gel with the returning Knights.