Duke Basketball Treasure Orchestrates Best Season Start at UCF

Johnny Dawkins hasn't led his Knights to the NCAA Tournament since losing to Mike Krzyzewski's Duke basketball squad in 2019.

Dec 1985; Durham, NC, USA; FILE PHOTO; Duke guard Johnny Dawkins (24) in action during the 1985-86 season at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images | Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images

Duke basketball alum Johnny Dawkins is off to a notably promising start in trying to guide his UCF Knights to the Big Dance for the first time this decade.

UCF, which hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament since falling to Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, and the rest of Mike Krzyzewski's 2018-19 Blue Devils in the Round of 32 in what was Dawkins' third season leading the Knights, improved to 8-1 overall this season with its 86-61 home win over the Towson Tigers on Sunday night.

As the official UCF basketball account noted following the blowout victory, the Knights' record thus far marks the program's best start to a season across Dawkins' 10 years at the helm in Orlando, Fla.

Momentum 🙌 | @Coach_Dawkins pic.twitter.com/vFcgUxdY4a

— UCF Men’s Hoops 🌴 (@UCF_MBB) December 7, 2025

"Full credit to this team for their hard work and buying into what our staff has been preaching," the 62--year-old Dawkins noted in reposting the recognition of the achievement on social media.

UCF did not receive any AP Top 25 Poll votes this week, but stacks up at No. 38 overall in the latest NCAA NET Rankings.

Feb 5, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; Detailed view of the Duke Blue Devils logo on a uniform prior to the game against the Syracuse Orange at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

What Johnny Dawkins Said About Duke Basketball Legend Mike Krzyzewski in October

The 2025-26 UCF basketball squad's preseason slate tipped off with an exhibition bout against the Duke basketball program in Johnny Dawkins' old stomping grounds of Cameron Indoor Stadium and on the floor now bearing his longtime mentor's name, Coach K Court.

"God only makes so many Johnny Dawkins" 🤣🐐 pic.twitter.com/8mWhCHhigu

— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) October 21, 2025

After the Knights battled the Blue Devils in a tightly contested first half but ultimately fell, 96-71, Dawkins commented on what five-time national champion and all-time wins leader Mike Krzyzewski has meant to his career.

• "He's been amazing to me," said Dawkins, who won the 1986 Naismith Award as a senior in Durham before enjoying a nine-year NBA career and eventually returning to his alma mater as an assistant under Krzyzewski for 10 seasons.

• "And I wouldn't have this opportunity, and I tell him this all the time, if he hadn't given me the opportunity to be an assistant coach here. I would have never had a chance to be in this profession, and I've loved every minute of being in this profession.

• "It's all due to his ability to see something in me and give me an opportunity. And I'm very appreciative of it."

Dawkins, whose Knights now have over a week off before hosting the Mercer Bears on Wednesday, Dec. 17, sits at 176-121 (59.3 winning percentage) as UCF's leader and 332-236 overall (58.5 percent) as a head coach, including his eight seasons in charge of the Stanford Cardinal before arriving in Orlando.

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