The UCF Knights men’s basketball team is going through a complete overhaul heading into next season. Not only did Tacko Fall, Chad Brown, Dayon Griffin and B.J. Taylor graduate, but Aubrey Dawkins is also foregoing his last year of eligibility and Terrell Allen is reportedly exploring a grad transfer. Those individuals accounted for 77% of minutes played and 80% of points scored last season. It’s important to note that Terrell Allen can still decide to return to UCF next season just like Matt Williams did after committing to Wake Forest as a grad transfer.

In addition to the players above, forward Myles Douglas is transferring, and guard Chance McSpadden announced he has already left. Douglas, a sophomore, redshirted this past season despite playing 276 minutes the season before. McSpadden played over 800 minutes, racking up 273 points in his three seasons of competition with UCF. As a redshirt junior who missed his sophomore year due to injury, he’s heading to Stetson as a grad transfer to play for Donnie Jones who recruited him to UCF.

UCF still has four available scholarships, so a lot can change between now and the start of the season. But here’s what you could expect if the season started today:

The Way-Too-Early Starting Five

Center

Avery Diggs/Yuat Alok

Derek Warden

Alok, the TCU transfer, will be eligible to play for the Knights in December 2019 meaning he will miss roughly the first month of action. Prior to TCU, Alok spent the 2017/18 season at Chipola College where he averaged 12.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while shooting 48.1% from three and 81.6% from the line.

With Avery Diggs, a JUCO commit, being the only other center on the roster, I expect him to see a lot of playing time until Alok becomes eligible. Diggs played in 31 games for USC Upstate his freshman year before transferring to Southwest Mississippi CC where he played this past season.

Forwards

Collin Smith

Smith will be the only returning starter from the 2018/19 season. At 6’11”, he has the size of a center but doesn’t play like a true post player so I wouldn’t consider him the replacement for Tacko Fall. Regardless, expect him to have a big role this upcoming season.

Ibrahim Famouke Doumbia

A highly recruited four-star small forward out of high school, Ibrahim found himself at UCF after transferring from the University of South Carolina. He redshirted this past season and should have an immediate impact for the Knights moving forward.

Guards

Cesar DeJesus

In his first two seasons at UCF, DeJesus showed us how great he can be. He’s fantastic at driving the ball to the hoop and has the ability to hit the three ball. After starting all of 2017/18, he saw limited action this past season due to the depth UCF had. I expect him to become a full-time starter again this upcoming season.

Tony Johnson

We all expected Terrell Allen to be the starting point guard and leader of the team next season. It was definitely a shock to all of us when it was reported that he will be seeking a grad transfer. He still might come back (and some believe he will), but worst-case scenario, if he doesn’t, he leaves a huge hole at the point.

High school recruit Tony Johnson will be the only point guard on the roster as of now and he’ll need to get up to speed quickly if he’s going to start right off the bat. Johnson, a three-star recruit, also had offers from Auburn, Wichita State, and TCU, to name a few.