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UCF Knights fans have seen the last of guard Ceasar DeJesus in the black and gold.
The redshirt junior announced today via Instagram that his “collegiate career will end here at UCF” and he is planning to turn pro.
“The memories you gave me will be with me forever,” DeJesus wrote. “What a story and journey we have together. I will forever be grateful for you and the opportunity you gave me to educate myself and play the game I love in front of the best fans ever.
“Excited to see what’s next for me and my family in my journey. I plan on continuing my Basketball career as a pro. Being said, my collegiate career will end here at UCF. will forever be grateful for you UCF ❤. #UCFMADE”
Although DeJesus was just a redshirt junior, he was the most senior Knight on the 2019-20 roster, having just concluded his fourth year on the team. He filled a variety of roles during his time.
In 2017-18, he started all 32 games, the most from any freshman in program history. He then played as a reserve in 28 games last season before really assuming a top leadership role this season in which he fluctuated between point guard and shooting guard. He recorded the second-most assists (71), the third-most steals (23) and the fourth-most points per game (9.5) of any Knight. He played in all 30 games and garnered 24 starts.
The picture attached to this article is a proper way to describe DeJesus as a player: a driver. He has a knack for getting into the lane and finishing. He’s an old-school player in that he’s not a guard who looks for a 3. Instead, he plays to his strengths, and even though opponents were well aware of DeJesus’ tendencies on the offensive end, he seemed unstoppable at times whenever he gathered momentum into the paint.
Guards such as Tony Johnson Jr. and Brandon Mahan — a good driver in his own right — will have to replace what DeJesus brought on the floor. But hardly anyone can offer the in-house experience he possessed. He verbally committed to UCF less than two months after Johnny Dawkins became the head coach in the spring of 2016.
With DeJesus’ departure, forward Collin Smith is the only Knight remaining in the program who played significant minutes on last year’s NCAA Tournament team. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around that, especially since the one-year anniversary of UCF’s first-round game against VCU isn’t for a few more days.