UCF’s Johnny Dawkins’ Heartfelt Post-Game Speech To Players Goes Viral

We end in tears. That’s because we invested so much in each other.

UCF was one point shy away from beating the NCAA tournament favorites Duke last night. The UCF Knights held a close lead of 74-70 in the second half before Zion Williamson turned the tide.

Of course this was a raw moment for UCF, but Knights head coach Johnny Dawkins gave his team words of encouragement during their post-game talk that everyone should hear.

UCF Men’s Hoops on Twitter

We end in tears…that’s because we’ve invested so much in each other. I love you guys. It’s been amazing coaching this group.” -@Coach_Dawkins https://t.co/B58DbNZzWO

“We end in tears. That’s because we invested so much in each other,” Dawkins told the Knights. “I love you guys. It’s been amazing coaching this group, and for us, we got a lot of good memories, we accomplished a lot of amazing things this year.”

On Friday, UCF won its first NCAA tournament game in program history. The last time the Knights went to the March Madness dance was back in 2005. This run was such a big accomplishment and although the players may not see it at the moment, they should be proud of how far they’ve come.

This game was very personal for Dawkins too, who played for Duke from 1982-86 and spent 10 seasons working on Mike Krzyzewski’s staff.

Back to top