UCF aims to overcome overhaul in season opener vs. Hofstra

As a member of the Big 12, UCF has a spate of institutional advantages that Hofstra lacks as a school in the mid-major Coastal Athletic Association.

But the Pride will be the team that takes the floor with more known quantities in their season opener on Monday when they visit the Knights in Orlando.

UCF was picked 14th in the 16-team Big 12 after going 20-17 (7-13 Big 12) and falling to Nebraska in the championship game of the inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament.

Hofstra was picked to finish eighth in the 13-team Coastal after going 15-18 (6-12) and losing to Monmouth in the second round of the conference tournament.

The Knights and 10th-year coach Johnny Dawkins underwent a total rebuild after every player who scored for the team last season either graduated or transferred. That includes Keyshawn Hall, who led the Big 12 with 18.8 points per game before heading to Auburn for his senior season.

But Dawkins added three players who scored in double figures last season. Themus Fulks (14.6 points, 5.9 assists) and Jamichael Stillwell (13.0 points. 10.7 rebounds) each starred for Milwaukee while George Beale Jr. averaged 13.0 points per game at Hampton. In addition, Fulks and Stillwell led the Horizon League in assists and rebounding, respectively.

"You want to try to recruit guys that fit your system," Dawkins said. "And finding guys that maybe have some experience. Once they learn who I am and what I expect, I think they'll be able to go out there and compete at a high level for us."

Fifth-year coach Speedy Claxton also had to find plenty of new players for Hofstra.

But the Pride return a pair of starters in Cruz Davis, who led the club with 14.4 points and 4.4 assists per game, and German Plotnikov, who shot a team-best 40.2 percent from 3-point range. Davis was named to the preseason All-CAA first team.

The Pride added six transfers, but their most intriguing addition might be 6-foot-10 Victory Onuetu. He is a former member of the Spanish youth national teams who committed to Hofstra in August.

"The thing that I've learned is you've just got to roll with the punches because it's a forever-changing landscape right now," said Claxton, who played at Hofstra from 1996 through 2000 and played seven years in the NBA after being drafted in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers.

--Field Level Media