ORLANDO, Fla. — Johnny Dawkins arrived at the University of Central Florida last year with a promise to turn the men’s basketball program around.
No one expected him to be able to do it in a single season. With a roster reduced to just seven scholarship players by transfers and injuries, U.C.F. could realistically expect only a rebuilding year, with hopes of a glimpse of more.
But instead of planning for Year 2 under Dawkins, the Knights (24-11) are headed to Madison Square Garden for the N.I.T. semifinals. They will meet Texas Christian (22-15) on Tuesday.
“Our belief has been in these players from Day 1,” said Dawkins, a former N.B.A. player and a national player of the year at Duke. “I think, as we started to play and started to gain some momentum, I think they started realizing what we can accomplish, and they kept working. And we put ourselves in position to be very competitive this season, so I’m just excited.”
Dawkins has re-energized a program that was trending downward in Donnie Jones’s last years as the coach. The Knights were 12-18 last season.
CFE Arena slowly became a home-court advantage this season, as crowds and enthusiasm grew with the team’s success.
An improving 7-foot-6 anchor, an outstanding playmaker at point guard, a five-game winning to end the regular season and a fortuitous scheduling conflict have helped speed up Dawkins’s rebuilding timetable.
“I think it’s huge for the program; we are way ahead of schedule,” said U.C.F. Athletic Director Danny White, who hired Dawkins last March. “We are extremely fortunate to have a coach the caliber of Johnny Dawkins leading our men’s basketball program.”
The Knights have put in the work this year, but have also had the ball bounce their way.
A record crowd of 10,011 packed a sold-out CFE Arena — a first for the building — in a matchup Wednesday with Illinois. It should have been a road game for the Knights, but Illinois had a scheduling conflict at its building, so the game was played in Orlando.
The energy from the home crowd helped the fourth-seeded Knights defeat No. 2-seeded Illinois, 68-58. Fans, especially the rowdy student section, had been in a frenzy all night and stormed the court after the win.
“It was rocking against Illinois,” White said. “It was awesome to see it that way.”
It was a scene U.C.F. had hoped for when it hired Dawkins. He led Stanford to a 156-115 record over eight seasons, as well as two N.I.T. titles, before being let go last year. U.C.F.’s 24 wins this season are the second most for the program since it reached Division I in 1984-85.
The seven scholarship players formed a strong nucleus that includes point guard B. J. Taylor, a standout sophomore; Tacko Fall, a 7-6 sophomore in the post; guard A. J. Davis, a junior; and the swingman Matt Williams — a senior who considered transferring to Wake Forest after Jones was fired last March.
They say they all bought into Dawkins’s approach. “Since the spring and whole summer, he has instilled that kind of toughness and perseverance in games where we’ve gotten down by 18 like we did against Illinois State,” Taylor said.
Dawkins has been a coach, a friend and a motivator for his players, his boss said. “You can see that there is a strong relationship there,” White said. “It’s a difficult thing to manage and think he has done a masterful job at it.”
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