Dr. Blackwell's BLOG

  Mount Dora Coach Chad Grabowski says UCF is getting a good one in CB Jordan Ozerities, who committed to the Knights on Thursday. Ozerities, the No. 30-ranked player in the Orlando Sentinel’s “Central Florida Top 100,” is a two-way talent for Mount Dora, playing cornerback and wide receiver, and he also sees time in the offensive backfield. He’s athletic and a good cover corner. The 5-foot-10, 185-pounder has good speed at 4.59 in the 40-yard dash and has also developed into the role of a leader at the Mount. The Knights also added Oviedo standout quarterback Blake Bortles, who says he just couldn’t stop thinking about UCF. “Every school I visited, I kept comparing it UCF,” Bortles said. “I talked to my parents about it (Friday night) and told them I really just felt like UCF was the best school for me.” He made it official Saturday afternoon, turning down offers from Purdue, Tulane and Colorado state to commit to UCF. Bortles is the Knights’ 11th commitment. Bortles, 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, is the No. 7-ranked prospect on the Orlando Sentinel‘s “Central Florida Top 100.” The quarterback said he had a positive feeling about the coaches and overall atmosphere at UCF. “I’m really happy I was able to make a decision so that now I can just focus on school and football,” he said. (Courtesy: Orlando Sentinel).

 ESPN released its annual top 5 “Games to Fear” for the upcoming football season. The column lists the top 5 NCAA I-A matchups of the season in-which an upset for the favorite is most probable. ESPN lists UCF’s September 26th match versus the East Carolina Pirates in Greenville, NC as the #4 most “Game to Fear.” Here’s what ESPN has to say about the game:

4. East Carolina vs. UCF: East Carolina is the favorite to win Conference USA, but once again it has a tough nonconference schedule to with contend first. Last season, the tough nonconference schedule hurt the Pirates during the early parts of their conference slate and it could happen again against a Central Florida team that many believe will contend for the conference title as well.

And the best news: My dad and I will be there for the game cheering for the Knights!

GO BLACK & GOLD!!! GO KNIGHTS!!!

The UCF Knights football team have made two amazing additions to their 2010 football commits.  Impressive offensive linemen Jordan and Justin McCray committed to UCF Monday morning. The twins’ older brother Cliff McCray is already a member of the Knights’ squad. The linemen’s Miami Southridge High School coach, Patrick Burrows, said Cliff McCray didn’t try to steer his younger brothers, but his decision to play for the UCF football program played a major role in their decision.”To be honest that’s that one thing that kept hearing from them the most whenever they talked about UCF,” Burrows said. “Their big brother plays there and their big brother is happy there. That seemed like the most important thing. They also like facilities  and they like the coaches.” Jordan and Justin McCray are identical twins who are 6-foot-4, 290-pound offensive guards. They drew interest from FAU, Miami, Ole Miss, Purdue, Rutgers, USF and Tennessee, but their only offer so far was from UCF. The brothers made it clear early in the recruiting process they wanted to stick together in college. With the two commitments, UCF’s 2010 recruiting class continue to fill up at a rapid pace. The Knights now have seven commitments for 2010.

Burrows heaped on high praise for the McCray twins. “They’re great leaders on the team, great leaders in the classroom,” he said. “One of the brothers had  1040 on the SAT and the other had a 1050. They both have at least a 3.5 GPA or better. They’re really committed and work hard on and off the field. They were raised by great parents and very receptive to coaching. They are willing to do whatever it takes to get better.” While they are strong students off the field, Burrows said the McCray brothers are equally impressive on the football field. “They look like they’re ready for the next level right now,” he said. “They ffinish blocks, they’ve got quick feet, they run down the field well. Really, the quick feet is all that matters. That’s what you really need to be a great offensive lineman and you can’t really fake it.”

When asked if the McCray brothers were among the leaders on the Miami Southridge team, Burrows made it clear Justin and Jordan are the leaders on his team. They’re focused on and off the field,” he said. “They’re role models at the school and in the community. They get it, they just get it. They understand everything that it takes to be successful. They’re the first ones in weight room and last to leave. They’re just great guys.” (Editor’s Note: Orlando Sentinel contributed to this article).

UCF Basketball is about ready to gain quite a bit of notoriety and spotlight. Marcus Jordan, son of legendary Basketball player Michael Jordan, has committed to the Knights. According to the Orlando Sentinel: “He made his decision based on two criteria,” said Tyrone Slaughter, Jordan’s coach at Whitney Young High in Chicago. “One was the ability to go in and make an immediate impact. He wanted to go in and have an opportunity to play right away at the collegiate level. Secondly, if it was place that he went to on a visit would immediately appeal to him. He immediately felt comfortable during his visit to UCF.” Jordan, a 6-foot-2 and 180-pound senior, made his decision one week after visiting UCF. He is best friends with UCF freshman point guard A.J. Rompza, who played at Whitney Young last season with Jordan. Welcome to UCF Marcus! We look-forward to yout tenure as a Knight!

An independent investigation by famed NCAA attorney Michael Glazier commenced Friday, exonerating the Knights’ football program from improper procedures and excessive training during football practices. The University hired Glazier after the collapse of a UCF player at a practice in December and the death of Freshman Ereck Plancher during one of last season’s pre-season practices. Plancher was found to have died from an exacerbation of his sickle cell trait, which can cause crescent-shaped red blood cells to obstruct blood flow to organs. While the investigation claims UCF’s football practices are no more excessive than other programs at the IA level, Plancher’s family announced several weeks ago they were suing UCF in a wrongful death lawsuit. While my heart goes out to the Plancher family for their loss, unfortunately, this lawsuit in my opinion is nothing more than an attempt to take advantage of an unfortunate tragedy for the sake of financial gain. To read the entire report from the Glazier investigaion, click on the following Orlando Sentinel link: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/acrobat/2009-03/45830677.pdf

The UCF Knights football team learned Thursday that 2 more of its football games will be nationally-televised this football season. The Knights match up against the Miami Hurricanes on October 17th  at Brighthouse Networks Stadium on UCF’s campus will be nationally-televised by CBS College Sports. Kickoff has been set for 7:30pm. The other game picked-up for television resulted in a schedule change. CBS College Sports picked-up the broadcast for the UAB game, resulting in a move of the game to the Friday after Thanksgiving. Kickoff for UCF @ UAB is now set for 1:00pm with a national broadcast on CBS College Sports. The Knights will also have a nationally-televised game on ESPN when they take on the Thundering Herd of Marshall @ Brighthouse Networks Stadium on November 1st. Kickoff is @ 8:00pm. GO KNIGHTS!!! 

College Football News has ranked all of Conference-USA’s football teams in-terms of their recruiting for 2009. The UCF Knights ranked #1 in their analysis, which follows:

1. UCF: The class is heavy on … defensive backs. After losing the entire starting secondary to graduation, this was an absolute priority for George O’Leary and the Knights. The program did a magnificent job a few years ago of taking two-star players, such as CB Joe Burnett, and molding them into defensive stoppers. It may not have to do much coaching up of CB Josh Robinson, an outstanding all-around playmaker, who also drew interest from Michigan, South Carolina, and West Virginia.
The player who’ll someday be a really big deal … CB Josh Robinson
The player you might care about this year … LB Jonathan Davis
What it all means to the real world of college football … At this stage of the process, you could argue that six of the Knights’ top seven recruits are on defense, so don’t expect any drop-off in this area. The offense, however, didn’t get nearly as much help as it needed. Other than WR Leon Woods, who has a nice blend of size and speed, UCF did little to inject life into one of the country’s most feeble attacks. 

After a horrendous 4-7 2008 season, the UCF Knights are eager to get back to their winning swagger and head Coach George O’Leary is eager to keep his job. The Knights, who are one season removed from Conference USA Champions, have a great schedule for 2009 which includes 7 home games, including the October 17th matchup between UCF and the Miami Hurricanes. The Knights also have one game scheduled for nationwide broadcast on ESPN. That game is against the Thundering Herd of Marshall on Sunday November 1st. The Knights will also take on the Texas Longhorns in Austin on November 7th. Here is the complete 2009 schedule. Times are still TBA:

Sat Sept 5 vs. Samford              Sat Sept 12 @ Southern Miss    

Sat Sept 19 vs. Buffalo              Sat Sept 26 @ East Carolina

Sat October 3 vs. Memphis     Sat October 17 vs. Miami    

Sat October 24 @ Rice                    Sun Nov 1 vs Marshall (ESPN)    

Sat Nov 7 @ Texas                          Sat Nov 14 vs. Houston    

Sat Nov 21 vs. Tulane                Sat Nov 28 @ UAB    

Sat Dec 5 C-USA Champ

(Games in bold are home games played in Brighthouse Networks Stadium)

Black & Gold Baby!!! GO KNIGHTS!!!

This past Saturday, the UCF Knights Basketball team (16-9; 6-5) came-back from a major 17-point deficit to beat the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, the #2 team in Conference USA.  Easily the most fun I have ever had at ANY basketball game in my life, the Knights AJ Rompza, scored a two-pointer in the last 0.1 seconds of the game to secure a Black & Gold victory 74-72. The UCF Arena became electric and fans went crazy! This win puts UCF back into the Conference USA hunt; but with only a few remaining games, it’s going to be an uphill battle. Here’s a clip of the last minute of the game: