2025–26 UCF Knights men's basketball team

2025–26 UCF Knights men's basketball
2025–26 UCF Knights men's basketball
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Record	18–7 (7–6 Big 12)
Head coach	Johnny Dawkins (10th season);
Assistant coaches	Robbie Laing (10th season); Tyson Waterman (3rd season); Adam Hood (2nd season); Dwayne Anderson II (1st season);
Home arena	Addition Financial Arena

2025–26 Big 12 men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 Arizona	11	–	2	.846	24	–	2	.923
No. 2 Houston	11	–	2	.846	23	–	3	.885
No. 6 Iowa State	10	–	3	.769	23	–	3	.885
No. 8 Kansas	10	–	3	.769	19	–	6	.760
No. 13 Texas Tech	9	–	4	.692	19	–	7	.731
No. 23 BYU	7	–	6	.538	19	–	7	.731
UCF	7	–	6	.538	18	–	7	.720
West Virginia	7	–	6	.538	16	–	10	.615
TCU	6	–	7	.462	16	–	10	.615
Cincinnati	6	–	7	.462	14	–	12	.538
Arizona State	5	–	8	.385	13	–	12	.520
Oklahoma State	4	–	9	.308	16	–	10	.615
Colorado	4	–	9	.308	14	–	12	.538
Baylor	3	–	10	.231	13	–	13	.500
Kansas State	2	–	11	.154	11	–	15	.423
Utah	2	–	11	.154	10	–	16	.385

† 2026 Big 12 tournament winner As of February 18, 2026 Rankings from AP poll

The 2025–26 UCF Knights men's basketball team represents the University of Central Florida during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, marking their third season as members of the Big 12 Conference. The Knights, in the program's 57th season of basketball, are led by tenth-year head coach Johnny Dawkins and play their home games at the Addition Financial Arena.

Previous season

The Knights finished the 2024–25 season 20–17, 7–13 in Big 12 Play to finish in a tie for 13th place. They defeated Utah in the First Round of the Big 12 Tournament, 87−72.^[1] They lost in overtime of the second round to Kansas, 94–98.^[2]

The Knights were invited to play in inaugural College Basketball Crown, a single-elimination, fully-bracketed men's college basketball postseason tournament featuring sixteen National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I teams not selected to participate in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.^[3]^[4]

In their first round game, they defeated Oregon State in their first round game, 76–75.^[5] They defeated fellow Big 12 Conference opponent Cincinnati in their quarterfinals game, 88–80 to reach the semifinals.^[6] In their semifinal matchup, the Knights defeated Villanova, 104–98 in overtime.^[7] In the championship game, they ended up losing 77−66 to Nebraska.^[8]

Preseason

The Big 12 preseason coaches poll was released on October 16, 2025. All awards were voted on by the league's 16 head coaches, who could not vote for their own team or players. The Big 12 preseason media poll was released on October 30, 2025.

Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll

	Big 12 Coaches	Points
1.	Houston	224 (12)
2.	BYU	204 (1)
3.	Texas Tech	200
4.	Arizona	179 (1)
5.	Iowa State	170
6.	Kansas	163
7.	Baylor	137
8.	Cincinnati	120
9.	Kansas State	117
10.	TCU	90
11.	West Virginia	79
12.	Oklahoma State	77
13.	Utah	50
14.	UCF	39
15.	Colorado	37
16.	Arizona State	34
Reference:^[9] (#) first-place votes

Big 12 Preseason Media Poll

	Big 12 Media
1.	Houston
2.	Texas Tech
3.	BYU
4.	Arizona
5.	Iowa State
6.	Kansas
7.	Baylor
8.	Kansas State
9.	Cincinnati
10.	TCU
11.	West Virginia
12.	Oklahoma State
13.	Utah
14.	UCF
15.	Colorado
16.	Arizona State
Reference:^[10]

Roster

2025–26 UCF Knights men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
C	0	Jeremy Foumena	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	RS Jr	Mississippi State	Montreal, Québec, Canada
G	1	Themus Fulks	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	GS	Milwaukee	Winston-Salem, North Carolina
G	2	Riley Kugel	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	1210 lb (549 kg)	Sr	Mississippi State	Orlando, Florida
G	3	George Beale Jr.	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Hampton	Suffolk, Virginia
F	4	Jamichael Stillwell	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Sr	Milwaukee	Atlanta, Georgia
G	5	Kris Parker	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	RS So	Villanova	Tallahassee, Florida
C	7	John Bol	7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	So	Ole Miss	Boma, South Sudan
C	9	Elijah Hulsewe	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	270 lb (122 kg)	RS Jr	Bethune–Cookman	Orlando, Florida
G	11	Carmelo Pacheco	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Mount St. Mary's	Harrisonburg, Virginia
G	22	Chris Johnson	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Stephen F. Austin	Houston, Texas
G	24	Zach Johnson	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	IV Greatness Academy	Southern Pines, North Carolina
G	24	Tanner Jones	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	IMG Academy (FL)	Memphis, Tennessee
G	33	Poohpha Warakulnukroh	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	RS Sr	Montverde Academy	Bangkok, Thailand
F	35	Devan Cambridge	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	GS	Texas Tech	Nashville, Tennessee
F	99	Jordan Burks	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Jr	Georgetown	Decatur, Alabama

Head coach

Johnny Dawkins (Duke)

Assistant coach(es)

Robbie Laing (Troy)
Dwayne Anderson II (Villanova)
Tyson Waterman (Winthrop)
Adam Hood (Air Force)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: October 24, 2025

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 21, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at No. 6 Duke Brotherhood Run	L 71–96		22 – Kugel	7 – Kugel	4 – Fulks	Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC
October 26, 2025* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		LSU	L 68–75		21 – Kugel	7 – Stillwell	7 – Kugel	Addition Financial Arena (5,409) Orlando, FL
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		Hofstra	W 82–78	1–0	19 – Kugel	7 – Burks	8 – Fulks	Addition Financial Arena (6,029) Orlando, FL
November 8, 2025* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Vanderbilt	L 93–105	1–1	25 – Kugel	6 – Cambridge	4 – Fulks	Addition Financial Arena (6,018) Orlando, FL
November 11, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Florida A&M	W 97–60	2–1	19 – Pacheco	7 – Burks	6 – Fulks	Addition Financial Arena (5,577) Orlando, FL
November 14, 2025* 8:00 p.m., SECN+		at Texas A&M	W 86–74	3–1	21 – Burks	9 – Stillwell	9 – Fulks	Reed Arena (9,099) College Station, TX
November 17, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Oakland	W 87–83	4–1	20 – Stillwell	13 – Stillwell	10 – Fulks	Addition Financial Arena (5,559) Orlando, FL
November 20, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN2		vs. Pittsburgh Legends Classic	W 77–67	5–1	18 – Tied	18 – Stillwell	4 – Tied	Ocean Center (1,006) Daytona Beach, FL
November 25, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Quinnipiac	W 102–91	6–1	18 – Foumena	7 – Tied	13 – Fulks	Addition Financial Arena (5,173) Orlando, FL
November 29, 2025* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		VMI	W 82–57	7–1	21 – Stillwell	14 – Stillwell	5 – Tied	Addition Financial Arena (4,905) Orlando, FL
December 7, 2025* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Towson	W 86–61	8–1	20 – Fulks	6 – Stillwell	8 – Fulks	Addition Financial Arena (5,346) Orlando, FL
December 17, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Mercer	W 81–63	9–1	17 – Burks	10 – Stillwell	3 – Tied	Addition Financial Arena (5,195) Orlando, FL
December 20, 2025* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		Florida Gulf Coast	W 102–80	10–1	23 – Burks	13 – Stillwell	5 – Fulks	Addition Financial Arena (5,481) Orlando, FL
December 23, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		vs. Florida Atlantic	W 85–80	11–1	24 – Fulks	11 – Bol	12 – Fulks	ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex (1,057) Lake Buena Vista, FL
Big 12 regular season
January 3, 2026 2:00 p.m., Peacock		No. 17 Kansas	W 81–75	12–1 (1–0)	19 – Kugel	8 – Cambridge	3 – Fulks	Addition Financial Arena (8,808) Orlando, FL
January 6, 2026 8:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 25	at Oklahoma State	L 76–87	12–2 (1–1)	15 – Kugel	11 – Cambridge	4 – Tied	Gallagher-Iba Arena (5,057) Stillwater, OK
January 11, 2026 5:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 25	Cincinnati	W 73–72	13–2 (2–1)	19 – Kugel	8 – Foumena	12 – Fulks	Addition Financial Arena (7,899) Orlando, FL
January 14, 2026 8:00 p.m., Peacock		at Kansas State	W 81–73	14–2 (3–1)	19 – Kugel	19 – Tied	12 – Fulks	Bramlage Coliseum (7,033) Manhattan, KS
January 17, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN		No. 1 Arizona	L 77–84	14–3 (3–2)	30 – Fulks	6 – Tied	8 – Fulks	Addition Financial Arena (10,000) Orlando, FL
January 20, 2026 8:00 p.m., CBSSN		at No. 9 Iowa State	L 57–87	14–4 (3–3)	15 – Tied	7 – Burks	5 – Fulks	Hilton Coliseum (14,267) Ames, IA
January 24, 2026 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Colorado	W 95–86	15–4 (4–3)	22 – Kugel	10 – Bol	8 – Fulks	CU Events Center (6,528) Boulder, CO
January 27, 2026 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Arizona State	W 79–76	16–4 (5–3)	17 – Kugel	10 – Bol	6 – Fulks	Addition Financial Arena (6,621) Orlando, FL
January 31, 2026 12:00 p.m., ESPN2		No. 11 Texas Tech	W 88–79	17–4 (6–3)	21 – Fulks	10 – Tied	7 – Fulks	Addition Financial Arena (8,511) Orlando, FL
February 4, 2026 7:00 p.m., FS1		at No. 8 Houston	L 55–79	17–5 (6–4)	9 – Kugel	7 – Bol	6 – Stillwell	Fertitta Center (7,035) Houston, TX
February 8, 2026 2:00 p.m., CBSSN		at Cincinnati	L 72–92	17–6 (6–5)	16 – Johnson	9 – Stillwell	6 – Johnson	Fifth Third Arena (9,969) Cincinnati, OH
February 14, 2026 6:00 p.m., FS1		West Virginia	L 67–74	17–7 (6–6)	19 – Fulks	8 – Burks	7 – Folks	Addition Financial Arena (8,081) Orlando, FL
February 17, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		TCU	W 82–71	18–7 (7–6)	23 – Burks	7 – Burks	6 – Fulks	Addition Financial Arena (6,990) Orlando, FL
February 21, 2026 9:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Utah						Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT
February 24, 2026 11:00 p.m., ESPN2		at BYU						Marriott Center Provo, UT
February 28, 2026 7:00 p.m., FS1		Baylor						Addition Financial Arena Orlando, FL
March 3, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Oklahoma State						Addition Financial Arena Orlando, FL
March 6, 2026 8:00 p.m., CBSSN		at West Virginia						WVU Coliseum Morgantown, WV
Big 12 tournament
March 10−14, 2026 TBD, TBD		vs. TBD						T-Mobile Center Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV*	25	RV	RV	—	RV	—	—
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	—	RV	—	—

*AP did not release a week 8 poll.

References

[1] "Second Half Surge Powers Men's Hoops Past Utah in 87-72 First Round Win".

[2] "Men's Hoops Drops 98-94 Overtime Heartbreaker vs. Kansas in Second Round".

[3] "What is the College Basketball Crown: Everything to know about the postseason tournament on Fox". FoxSports.com. March 6, 2025. Retrieved March 12, 2025.

[4] "College Basketball Crown". Retrieved March 12, 2025.

[5] "Men's Hoops Advances in College Basketball Crown with 76-75 Win Over Oregon State".

[6] "Men's Hoops Advances to Crown Semifinal with 88-80 Win Over Cincinnati".

[7] "Men's Hoops Advances to Sunday's College Basketball Crown Final".

[8] "Men's Hoops Falls Short of College Basketball Crown Title".

[:0-9] "Houston Tabbed As Big 12 Men's Basketball Favorite, TTU's Toppin Named Preseason Player of the Year".

[10] "Big 12 Media Votes Houston As Preseason MBB Conference Favorite".

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

UCF Knights men's basketball
Venues	Education Gymnasium (1969–1991) UCF Arena (1991–2007) Addition Financial Arena (2007–present)
Rivalries	South Florida
Culture & lore	Knightro Marching Knights
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26