Themus Fulks and Jordan Burks On Making The NCAA Tournament: "We're Just Going To Play UCF Basketball"

Guard Themus Fulks and forward Jordan Burks celebrated UCF's (21-11, 9-9 Big 12) reveal as the No. 10 seed in the East Region on Sunday with handshakes and dances. 

The pair spoke to local media shortly after their celebration and talked about returning to the NCAA Tournament — Burks with Kentucky in 2024 and Fulks with Louisiana Lafayette in 2023. 

Fulks on what it was like seeing UCF revealed as the No. 10 seed on Selection Sunday:

"It's exciting. We work so hard. Me and JB personally, we've been here since May of last year just working, just grinding and hoping we get the opportunity to prove what type of team, what type of players we are to the world, and this is the biggest stage it is."

Burks on what it feels like to return to the NCAA Tournament and proving the doubters wrong:

"I'm just a little happy cuz [when] I went to the tournament, I ain't get to play. So now, I get to go and play." 

Fulks and Burks on the lessons they're taking from the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament and applying to the NCAA Tournament: 

Burks: "Attention to detail. Start, sustain, and finish, making sure we execute every play and don't take not one of them off. Life or death, every possession. So yeah, that's how we're going to look at it."

Fulks: "Also, with the Big 12 tournament, how I see it, they start off with the glass floor, then they switch it back to the regular floor. Technically, we should start the whole tournament back over to make it fair. But yeah, the way he said it, attention to detail, and just figure out the rest."

Fulks on how dangerous the UCF Knights team can be after proving they can beat AP Top 25 competition: 

"Not going to say too much, you know. We're just going to play UCF basketball. Towards the end of the season, we was just a little banged up, but now I feel like we're getting healthy and we're one of the scariest teams in the nation whenever we're healthy, and we're playing the right way."

Burks on his reaction seeing his teammates show emotion after punching their ticket to the tournament:

"Everybody showed emotion cuz like, it's hard, it's hard to get into the tournament, but we worked for it. So, it felt good to see the work pay off."

Fulks on what withstanding the bumps in the road says about the UCF Knights squad:

"It just shows that we're a resilient team. Like I said before, we can't help injuries. I feel like we're being healthy at the right time. We didn't really care who we played in the tournament. It is what it is. We just look forward to being healthy and just showing what we can do and finishing the season out the right way."

Fulks on if there was a moment in the season he knew UCF was a tournament-worthy team:

"Personally, I think that it was probably when we beat Kansas. Yeah, probably the Kansas game. It showed like, 'If you beat Kansas, you can beat anybody in the nation, you know?' And it was a really good game, and JB hit a really big shot and it's just like if you just really look at the game, everybody stepped up, and it really just showed that we can be a really good basketball team."

Burks on coach Johnny Dawkins' message to the team after making the NCAA Tournament:

"Honestly, he kept it real brief. He was just more like happy for us. Cuz it's like another opportunity that not a lot of people get. So he just was like thanking us and the staff. You know at 12:00 it's over. We know we're in it, so it's time to work."

Fulks on the over-inflated basketball and the ASB GlassFloors court featured in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament:

"It was just weird. Like the traction on the floor, like you couldn't really get a grip on the floor. You know, if you're Arizona, you just dump it inside and you just play bully ball the whole game. It's a little bit different, but for us, we were trying to make cuts, make moves, and this is one of the best shooters in the nation, and he was slipping all over the floor. So, I feel like the Big 12 should like maybe just stay away from that."

Fulks on if he knows anything about the No. 7 seed UCLA Bruins, who the Knights face on Friday:

"They're a tournament team. That's all we know. They're a tournament team." 

Fulks on what it feels like to represent UCF in the tournament:

"Man, it's an honor. It's amazing. I don't really have words for it. I'm just thankful that I made the right choice and came to UCF. I had the right teammates and coaches, and we're just able to go to the tournament because I haven't been to the tournament in years and it just feels so good to be back, and it makes me think like you never know when you're going to go back. So yeah, this is like a surreal moment for me."

Fulks on how the Big 12 has prepared UCF for the NCAA Tournament:

"It's like the toughest It's the toughest league in America. Every night, anybody can be beaten. We played at Utah, and they're like the 16th in the league, and we beat them by two, and then we go play BYU, and we beat them by 30 cuz they weren't ready. You know what I mean? So like, at the end of the day, you've got to be prepared in this conference and playing against teams like that when we go to the big dance, I feel like we'll be ready."

Fulks on moving on from the glass floor court and returning to playing on hardwood courts:

"It's fine now. You know, we're playing on hardwood. That's the biggest thing for me. The basketball is being inflated. Every tournament I played in, the brand-new balls were coming out of the packet most of the time. So, like you, sometimes you get referees that will help you out and be like, 'You want me to take some air out?' But like that's fine. It's just the floor. It's like like why are we trying this out?"

Burks on how excited he is to play in the NCAA Tournament with a significant role on UCF:

"I'm just blessed and thankful, honestly. Like, I told him, 'I'm ready to go play right now.' He said, 'We got practice tomorrow.' He talking about, 'He looks like he's ready.' I'm ready cuz like never done it before." 

Burks on when he felt the Knights could be a tournament-worthy team:

"Honestly, I know we ain't come on top and win, but the Duke game like we were competing with them. So I was like, 'Shoot, we can if we can like be tied at halftime, and I know we can like we can beat anybody or be close to anybody.'"

Fulks on the job Dawkins has done helping UCF return to the NCAA Tournament since 2019:

"Coach Dawkins is amazing and it's crazy. He will never like come out here and take the credit for any of this because that's just not the type of guy he is. But him with the X's and O's and him, just being able to talk to us and handle our emotions, cuz sometimes on the court I may not show it. I might be a little frustrated, and he just knows how to get my mindset right. Same with JB. He just does a great job of understanding his players and putting us in the right position to win."

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