Coach Johnny Dawkins and the UCF Knights will face the Virginia Tech Hokies for their first-ever meeting on Dec. 19 in a neutral-site matchup in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
It is a late non-conference game before conference play begins for both teams in 2027.
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Virginia Tech finished last season 19-13, with an 8-10 ACC record dashing NCAA Tournament hopes. The conference had ranked powerhouses with NBA lottery talent: Mikel Brown Jr. on Louisville, Cam Boozer on Duke and Caleb Wilson on North Carolina. All three were drafted within the first seven picks in June’s draft.
The Hokies had talent on their roster, but lost some of it in the offseason. Guard Neoklis Avdalas transferred to conference rival North Carolina, and center Christian Gurdak went to St. John’s in the Big East.
Tobi Lawal, an athletic forward who led the team in rebounds in the final nine games, was selected 48th overall by the Dallas Mavericks.
Six players entered the portal, and they replaced those departures by signing six transfers, including center Miles Heide and guard Isaiah Elohim.
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UCF has done some rebuilding of its own. It lost Jamichael Stillwell (Texas Tech) and Jordan Burks (Oklahoma State) to Big 12 rivals, while Themus Fulks’ and Riley Kugel‘s eligibility expired.
Those four combined for 53.3 points, which was 65.8% of the Knights’ scoring last season.
Dawkins is no stranger to overhauling his roster. He did it during the last transfer portal with his recent departures, and he’s done it again this offseason.
The Knights signed rising sophomore Lewis Walker, who averaged 18.9 points at North Carolina A&T. They also brought back Dior Johnson from Tarleton State for his second stint in Orlando. Johnson averaged 24 points, including a season-high 42 against Baylor on Nov. 14.
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He played 8.5 minutes in 35 games during his first stint. Scoring is his strength, but he said he’s ready to become a winner back in a Power Four conference.
“I just want to be a winner,” Johnson told Knights247’s Andrew Cherico. “I know everybody is high on my offense, wondering how its going to translate or what I’m going to do this year, but my play will speak for itself.”
UCF had its most dominant start to non-conference play in the Dawkins era. It finished 2025 with an 11-1 record; the lone loss came against then-unranked Vanderbilt, 105-93, on Nov. 8.
Early wins played a significant role in the Knights breaking a six-year NCAA Tournament drought. They went 9-9 in conference play, picking up three ranked upsets against then-No. 17 Kansas, then-No. 11 Texas Tech and then-No. 19 BYU.
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Dawkins’ team made its debut in Philadelphia as a No. 10 seed, facing off against a former rival in UCLA coach Mick Cronin. The No. 7-seeded Bruins defeated the Knights, ending their tournament run early.
A revamped UCF squad is aiming to recapture similar success in non-conference play next season, with Virginia Tech standing in its way for the first time.
