Dawkins engineers incredible comebacks and secures a massive upset, proving his coaching brilliance and silencing doubts with back-to-back victories.
UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins has significantly cooled down the "hot seat" he was on prior to the season. UCF hadn't made March Madness since 2019 and had failed to put together consistent winning efforts over the last few seasons.
But, now, Dawkins is leading perhaps his best team yet. The Knights currently sit at 17-4 with a 6-3 record in Big 12 play.
UCF is the only team within the top-seven within in the conference to remain unranked in the latest AP Poll, despite winning its last three and picking up an upset win over No. 13 Texas Tech.
Thanks to this impressive week, Dawkins was named the Coach of the Week by The Field of 68.
The Field of 68 posts these weekly superlatives each Monday, highlighting the best team, coach, player and more from the week prior.
This is the first time any UCF player or coach has made the list this season.
Dawkins led the Knights to two home wins, first defeating Arizona State in a last-ditch comeback effort. UCF trailed by eleven with just over five minute to play before storming back ahead on five-of-six shooting from deep to shock the Sun Devils and steal a win.
He addressed his team's continued fight to the media following the game.
"You know, we had to dig deep. We've had to do that a number of times this year," Dawkins said. "They've shown the ability to be able to do that. The one thing about them is they still believe we have a chance as long as there's a second on the clock and they just keep fighting. And they did it again tonight."
UCF carried this momentum into a pivotal match-up with Texas Tech, who was ranked No. 11 at the time. The Red Raiders are led by the duo of junior forward JT Toppin and sophomore point guard Christian Anderson, both of whom could be First Team All-Americans this season.
The Knights dominated, leading for over 36 minutes of game time and fending off runs from Texas Tech. Sophomore center John Bol had his second double-double of the season, scoring fourteen points and snagging ten rebounds.
Knights fans in attendance gave Bol his props, as cheers of "John Bol, John Bol" filled Addition Financial Arena.
UCF picked up its second ranked win of the season, holding on to an 88-80 victory and celebrating with another patented court storming.
Dawkins had talked throughout the season about his team playing a full 40 minutes of effort and good basketball. Following the game, he said he believed his team had done so.
I thought our guys just played a 40-minute basketball game. We've been challenging our guys all season long," Dawkins said. "When will we play 40 minutes? Not 35, not 30. And I thought it took it took a 40-minute game tonight in order to be successful."