#ChargeOn Today: #StateofOrlando 🛡️ — $wole $quad 💪🏻 — Running it back 🏀
Friends! What a July it has been for UCF! I do want to say, thank you for being patient with me.
Between my personal vacation, Hurricane Elsa and Stanley Cup coverage for 10 Tampa Bay, I’ve been swamped, so there was a gap in newsletters. I hope that doesn’t happen as often in the future, but I appreciate you hanging in there with me!
There’s a lot to talk about, so let’s get into it.
Today’s read is 5.5 minutes ⏲️
Trending in the Kingdom: Welcome to the #StateofOrlando 🛡️
Martinez could start a trend for UCF recruiting: hitting up home base (Photo courtesy: UCF Recruiting)
This could be the start of something truly special. The Gus Bus is rolling. He and his coaching staff have preached about recruiting the local talent in their own hotbed of a backyard. We’re learning that’s not just talk.
Here’s the scoop: Malzahn and Co. landed local Apopka four-star cornerback Nikai Martinez on Friday. He picked the Knights over a list of finalists that included Florida and South Carolina, but Martinez also held offers from Clemson, Florida State, Georgia and Tennessee (Hey, Heup! 🙃), among others.
A long time coming 🤝: The Malzahn-Martinez relationship began while Gus was at Auburn, and it’s that long-term comrade that helped Martinez feel comfortable enough to stay home, instead of being hypnotized by the aura of the SEC.
“I love Coach Gus. We’ve been in contact ever since my freshman year so we already had a good connection before he even came to UCF,” Martinez told the Orlando Sentinel’s Chris Hayes. “That made it an even easier decision. I felt like it was just good timing and everyone there was loving to each other and loving to me and my family…I just felt like it was the best place for me.”
The “#StateofOrlando”, as Malzahn has coined it, has a knack for developing some of the best talent in the nation. Here’s a look, by the numbers, at the Orlando-area’s presence in the 247Sports Composite Top 100 prospects over the last decade.
2022: 0
2021: 1
2020: 4
2019: 1
2018: 3
2017: 1
2016: 1
2015: 5
2014: 0
2013: 1
2012: 2
Give me a Knugget 🐴: The city and its suburbs produces basically two of the top 100 high school players on an annual basis. That’s pretty impressive, and now UCF can consider themselves in play for some of the nation’s elite.
As for Martinez, he is a Top 300 player, but this type of progress proves UCF, ahead of playoff expansion, is becoming a major player in the local talent game. And taking a look at their recruiting history, it’s a shift in strategy, if you can believe that.
🗺️ Just look at a map of UCF signees. Dating back to 2002, UCF has signed 56 players from the surrounding Orlando area. Below the map is a list of those locals (including the Daytona Beach area) in each signing class broken down by coach.
To interact with the map, click here.
Here's snapshot of the 56 local recruits UCF has signed since 2002.
Mike Kruczek (2002-03): 14
2002: 4
2003: 7
George O'Leary (2004-15): 32
2004: 2
2005: 5
2006: 2
2007: 4
2008: 1
2009: 4
2010: 5
2011: 4
2012: 2
2013: 1
2014: 2
2015: 0
Scott Frost (2016-17): 4
2016: 3
2017: 1
Josh Heupel (2018-20): 5
2018: 1
2019: 3
2020: 1
Gus Malzahn (2021-current): 2
2021: 1
2022 (not complete, so verbal commitment): 1
A new strategy 📓: If you average it out, UCF has signed less than three recruits per cycle from the Orlando area over the last two decades. That seems low, given their access to top-tier talent within a 45-minute drive from campus. Gus, and his staff, look determined to change that.
UCF Football already has commitments from 4 players rated 5.7 or higher on @Rivals. The last time UCF Football signed a class with 4 players ranked 5.7 or higher was 2018.
Coach Malzahn's 2022 class will likely be the best class in UCF program history. 🚐
One final note ✏️: To wrap things up with Martinez, there’s plenty of reasons why he chose UCF, but clearly, the new NIL push from the university played a key factor. He wrote in the Daytona Beach News-Journal that he’s “thinking big picture already” when it comes to the Knights, which includes his marketability in Orlando.
Say hey to the $wole $quad 💪🏻
Photo courtesy: Nick Friedman
Shout out to the ladies paving the way as pioneers in this new NIL (name, image and likeness) space of college sports.
Fill me in: Last week, UCF’s women’s basketball team became the first NCAA team to sign a NIL deal with a company, agreeing to a sponsorship deal with Florida-based College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving. The company, in a press release, said the partnership is intended to highlight women’s college sports, which “are often overlooked and deserve equal recognition and opportunity.”
What they’re saying 🗣️
“As a former college basketball player and father of three daughters, this is such an honor for our organization to be able to support these outstanding female athletes and teammates who work so hard at their craft. H.U.N.K.S. stands for Honest, Uniformed, Nice, Knowledgeable, Service, and we are committed to building and supporting leaders. Through our partnership with the UCF Women’s Basketball players, we hope we can help further their growth as they look to make a big run in the NCAA Tournament this year while also navigating school and life.” - Nick Friedman, Co-founder of College HUNKS.
Why this is a big deal: History aside, College HUNKS has over 150 franchises in the United States as well as Canada, so it’s some good exposure for the Lady Knights. The financial details weren’t made public, but senior forward Masseny Kaba told the Orlando Sentinel that each player on the team will net at least $500 to promote College Hunks on their social media. It’s still good to see the wealth being spread here and not just focused on football.
Barstool’s in, too 💸: There’s also individual side deals in play. UCF’s Becca Ripley has also reportedly signed a sponsorship deal Barstool Sports (it’s listed on her Twitter profile). She’s also promoting products on her social media accounts, including a superfoods brand.
SHOP NOW!! @dgthebrand https://t.co/bJSRHXSg31
UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel also launched his own personal brand, luring popular UCF alum Sean Barakett, aka @UCFProblems, to help get the word out.
Other players are launching clothings lines, starting YouTube channels or partnering with Dreamfield, a new NIL-focused company, to enhance their personal brand.
A final thought 💭: Who knows where this goes, because so far, it seems like the wild, wild west. A gym owner pledged to give every Miami Hurricanes football player a $500 a month endorsement deal, Master P’s son got an endorsement deal worth $2 million and he hasn’t even played a down of college football and over 40 Florida Gator athletes landed deals within the last 10 days. It’s madness.
Will this encourage more athletes to stay in school, instead of ditching for a pay day in the pros? Could it help them become more business savvy before graduating? We’ll see how the next few years of this unfolds, but either way, we haven’t even scratched the surface of the NIL world we’re now living in.
C.J. Walker will give it another go with UCF. (Photo: UCF Athletics)
The Fab Four's return 🏀
Time to run it back for UCF basketball, with four of their biggest stars returning for the 2021-22 season.
Tell me more: Forward C.J. Walker, forward Isaiah Adams and guard Darius Perry all decided to test the NBA Draft waters, but ultimately made the choice to return to UCF for one more run. Here’s a quick rundown on each, and why they decided to withdrawal.
Darius Perry: UCF’s leading scorer last season, averaging 14.7 ppg and a team-best 3.4 assists per game, Perry chose to use the one-time COVID-19 exemption to return, so he’ll be a fifth-year senior when he suits up next season. The extra year in college should help improve his draft stock.
“I’m just excited to come back,” Perry said in a press release. “We’ve got a good group of guys that are going to work hard, and I think we have a good chance to some special things this year.”
Darius Perry to Return to UCF for 2021-22 Season
C.J. Walker: A defensive machine last season, the AAC’s leading blocker return after flirting with the NBA. He’s an Orlando native and moved from New York to Sanford in sixth grade. Walker wants another go-around with the Knights to improve his game.
“Going through this draft process over the past few months has been an amazing experience,” Walker announced on his Instagram. “I have received positive feedback and constructive criticism from NBA teams that has allowed me to grow my game a lot this offseason. After discussing with my family, I have decided the best thing for my game is to return to UCF for my junior season. I am excited to be back and to play in front of a full arena of fans this season… LET’S CHARGE ON!!”
In case you forgot: Walker was UCF’s first-ever five-star recruit, having transferred from Oregon to Orlando.
Isaiah Adams: After a sensational freshman season, Adams is coming back, too. He averaged just under 10 points per game, good for second-most among conference freshman.
“I’m looking forward to coming back,” said Adams in a release. “It will be another year together, so we should have some really good chemistry. I just want to win, and I expect us to go far.”
Brandon Mahan, who started all but two games for the Knights last season, is also coming back for another year, meaning Johnny Dawkins won’t have to reload as much as previously thought. Mahan initially entered his name into the transfer portal, but opted to give it another go in Orlando.
UCF finished the COVID-adjusted season 11-12 overall, but should be much better next season.
By Ryan Bass
The #ChargeOn Today Newsletter is dedicated to covering trending UCF Athletics news and topics. Have some feedback? Shoot me a message: chargeontoday@gmail.com
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