Seven years, 174 games. Devan Cambridge's enduring college basketball journey culminates, etching his name in NCAA history with unmatched resilience and leadership.
The UCF Knights had one of the most experienced players in NCAA history donning the black and gold colors — Devan Cambridge, who ended his career tied for third in all-time games played after last Friday's loss to the UCLA Bruins.
Cambridge played 174 games, tying with former North Carolina and Arizona guard Caleb Love. He spent seven years in college, earning two medical redshirts and an extra year due to the COVID waiver.
The 6-foot-6 forward appeared in 33 games for coach Johnny Dawkins and the Knights, tying his second-highest games played from his time as an Auburn Tiger.
Cambridge is often seen as a leader due to his experience and is relied on by teammates and the coaching staff to lead in high-pressure situations.
"I've been here every year [the NCAA Tournament] other than my first year with covid and stuff like that," Cambridge said. "It's going to be more so on the court in the moment where they look at you to lead, if we're down or something, or it's a big-time moment, you can't let up. It's going to be things like that where, "You've been here before. We're looking at you to lead, and you know, being able to do that for the guys."
In seven seasons, Cambridge has played for four programs. He started his journey at Auburn, playing under coach Bruce Pearl from 2019 to 2022. After three years with the Tigers, he entered the transfer portal to play one year with the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Then, Cambridge made the jump to the Big 12, joining the Texas Tech Red Raiders and spending two injury-riddled seasons with them before spending his last year with Dawkins and UCF.
The Nashville native totaled 6.9 points and 3.8 rebounds, shooting 44.4% from the field across his career.
Although Cambridge spent a brief stint of his career at UCF, he said it felt amazing to be healthy and play a significant role after two injury-riddled seasons.
"I've been working my butt off to come back," Cambridge said. "It feels amazing to be back and be around my teammates. Like traveling, doing simple things. Like being around my team. I wasn't even around my team last year. I had went home and rehabbed, and so it feels good to be back with my brothers."
Cambridge's future is undetermined, but he leaves a legacy on UCF basketball, as Dawkins cited him as one of the players who helped set the foundation of Knights basketball.
"When you think of the foundation being laid for us in the Big 12, you'll think of guys like Themus Fulks, Jamichael Stillwell, Devan Cambridge, Riley Kugel, George Beale Jr., all of our guys that were upperclassmen that were instrumental in us doing this because we couldn't do any of this without those guys," Dawkins said.
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