ORLANDO – UCF Men's Basketball head coach Johnny Dawkins announced the addition of Charles Stephenson to the team as the Knights' new head strength coach on Tuesday.
"We're excited to add Charles to our staff," said Dawkins. "I look forward to the wealth of experience he will bring to this program as well as the relationships he is going to develop with these young men. His résumé speaks for itself, and we're excited to have him here at UCF as part of our family."
Stephenson brings nearly 35 years of experience as a strength coach at the collegiate level. Most recently, he was the Director of Performance with the Utah men's basketball team from 2012-2021, where he was the first basketball-specific strength coach in Runnin' Utes program history.
Before that, Stephenson was the strength coach for men's basketball at North Carolina State from 1996-2011 and previously held the same position at Auburn from 1994-96. Prior to Auburn, he was an assistant strength and conditioning coach at the University of Virginia from 1987-94.
"I'm happy to be here," said Stephenson. "I wanted to be a part of a program that shares my same values and demonstrates high character, and I feel that UCF, coach Dawkins and this program do just that. Coach Dawkins has high expectations, and in every great organization, you are always trying to elevate what you have done in the past and trying to build on that.
"Great athletes want to be held accountable, they want to be motivated, and they want to understand the 'why'. Those are my three things, and I will do my best to continue to do all of those things at UCF. I want the athletes to know that I care, so when I push them, they know why."
Stephenson is also the founder and director of High Performance Basketball Symposium, an annual symposium for strength and conditioning coaches from college to high school and the NBA. The Symposium, which was founded by Stephenson in 2008, is a hands-on learning experience with the top basketball performance coaches in the country.
"The Symposium is an event that keeps me up-to-date with what everyone in the sports performance world is up to across all leagues," said Stephenson. "We get to bring in some high-caliber scientists and presenters, and it's really just about raising our game and trying to get better."
Stephenson earned his master's degree in exercise physiology from UVA in 1989 and did his undergraduate work at the College of William & Mary, graduating with a bachelor's degree in physical education. He and his wife, Diane, have four children, Tyler, Shea, Quinn and Carsyn.
