Men's Basketball 2025-26 Season RecapMen's Basketball 2025-26 Season Recap

Men's Basketball 2025-26 Season Recap

by Jenna VanHoose

The 2025-26 men’s basketball season was one for the record books as the Knights ended their season in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after going seven years without a bid into the Big Dance. UCF tallied a 21-12 record on the season, marking the second consecutive 20-win season under head coach Johnny Dawkins. UCF recorded nine Big 12 conference wins which marked the most by a UCF team since joining the conference ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Etched in the Record Books

  • Themus Fulks became the single season assists leader with 222, surpassing the previous record of 183 held by Sinua Phillips.
  • The Knights broke a program record with 19 three-pointers in the game against FGCU (12/20), the previous record was 17 against Tulsa (2/11/23)
  • Averaged 80.7 points per game, the most-ever under Dawkins at UCF, and the most by any UCF team in our D1 era
  • Delivered the program's best Big 12 record since joining the conference (9-9), and the program's most wins since the 2018-19 season (21-12).
  • Their 11-game winning streak from FAMU on Nov. 11 to Oklahoma St. on Jan. 6 was the longest of the Dawkins era and the longest since the 2010-11 season.
  • Tied the program record with three top-25 wins (No. 17 Kansas, No. 11 Texas Tech and No. 19 BYU).
  • Set a program record with 28 offensive rebounds against VMI, the most in a game since the 1996-97 season.

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Johnny Dawkins’ Award Watch

  • Head Coach Johnny Dawkins was honored with the Jim Phelen National Coach of the Year Award, which is presented to the top head coach in Division I College Basketball. The award is in honor of the iconic bow-tied head coach, bringing Mount St. Mary’s to 16 Division II NCAA Tournaments, winning the National Championship in 1962.
  • Dawkins was named a finalist for the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award along with the Ben Job National Coach of the Year Award.
  • The Skip Prosser Man of the Year award is presented annually to a Division I coach who not only shows success on the basketball court, but someone who displays integrity on and off the court too.
  • The Ben Jobe Award is in honor of a legendary coach at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), coaching at six different HBCUs. Jobe reached the NCAA tournament four times.

Fulks Controlled the Flow 

  • Themus Fulks led the Knights at the point guard position, orchestrating the team’s offense throughout the season.
  • Fulks was one of only two players in the Big 12 to record at least seven games with 10+ assists; Christian Anderson achieved the feat eight times.
  • The Winston-Salem native directly contributed 461 points and assisted on another 535, accounting for 996 of UCF’s 2,662 total points—an impressive 37.4% of the team’s scoring production.
  • Fulks recorded four point-assist double-doubles this season:
    • 11 points, 10 assists vs. Oakland
    • 24 points, 12 assists vs. FAU
    • 13 points, 12 assists at Kansas State
    • 24 points, 11 assists at BYU
      He became the first Knight in program history to record at least three point-assist double-doubles in a single season.
  • The fifth-year guard earned All-Big 12 Third Team and All-Newcomer Team honors and was named to the Big 12 Starting Five three times.
  • Fulks was also a finalist for the Riley Wallace Player of the Year Award, presented annually to the most impactful transfer in Division I men’s basketball.
  • Finished the season ranked 10th in the NCAA with 6.7 assists per game, recording for 222 assists to be ranked 11th in the nation. 
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Rising Through the Ranks

  • UCF men’s basketball debuted at No. 25 in the Week 9 AP Top 25, marking its first appearance in the poll since 2019. The Knights earned the ranking following a statement 81-75 win over then No. 17 on Jan. 3, improving the Black and Gold to 12-1 the best start of head coach Johnny Dawkin’s tenure.
  • The week nine ranking marked the sixth week UCF has appeared in the AP Top 25 since the program began in 1969, and the second time under Dawkins.
  • In the NET rankings, the Knights climbed as high as 30 – the best NET ranking since joining the Big 12.

Go Knights, March On

  • The UCF Knights went to the big dance for the first time since the 2018-19 season, as the No. 10 seed it faced No. 7 seed UCLA in Philadelphia. This marked the Black and Gold’s second at-large bid in program history.
  • UCF was one of only two teams, joined by Miami, to make the tournament without any returning scoring production from last season. Since 2007, UCF is now one of only three teams to make the tournament without bringing back any scoring production (UCF and Miami 2026, and Kentucky 2025).

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