The Case for Johnny Dawkins as Big 12 Coach of the Year
By Ben Hazel, Edited by John Weis
Quite typically, the staff that finishes atop the Big 12 regular-season standings can also be the one whose coach takes house the league’s Coach of the Year award. Just take a look at the previous two seasons, when Kelvin Sampson earned the honor after guiding his Houston Cougars to consecutive convention titles.
This 12 months, Tommy Lloyd have the Arizona Wildcats positioned at the prime of the standings at 14–2 in Big 12 play, two video games clear of each Houston and Texas Tech Red Raiders, led by Grant McCasland.
Lloyd is definitely deserving of reward, and so is McCasland, as he is steadied the ship regardless of shedding star participant JT Toppin.
But if this award actually acknowledges the greatest teaching job — not merely the greatest staff — then the clear alternative for Big 12 Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year is Johnny Dawkins of our UCF Knights.
A Three-Horse Race — But One Clear Choice
Yes, this can be a subjective award. And sure, Lloyd and McCasland have robust circumstances; After all, guiding a staff to the prime – and even close to the prime – of the Big 12 isn’t straightforward.
But what Coach Dawkins has achieved this season goes past expectations — it shatters them.
In the preseason Big 12 media ballot, UCF was projected to complete 14th, forward of solely Colorado and Arizona State. Optimism was scarce, even amongst Knights followers. The program needed to change almost its complete roster, with each main contributor departing by way of commencement or the switch portal.
Most groups going through that degree of turnover brace for a rebuild 12 months. Instead, UCF constructed a breakthrough season.
Shattering Preseason Predictions
Despite coming into the 12 months with one of the lowest NIL budgets in the convention, UCF at present sits sixth in the Big 12 standings. In a league broadly regarded as the hardest and deepest convention in school basketball, that is nothing quick of exceptional.
In in the present day’s period of NIL collectives and escalating roster funding, outcomes usually mirror assets. Programs that spend extra normally win extra. Turnarounds of this magnitude — particularly in an influence convention — are exceedingly uncommon.
Yet right here we’re.
Even with final weekend’s setback in opposition to Baylorthe physique of work stays spectacular. The Knights have competed night time in and night time out in a convention identified nationally for elite basketball.
Building Belief Without the Spotlight
UCF basketball hardly ever instructions nationwide headlines. The program would not have the built-in basketball status of some convention friends. And not like some faculties, there is not a powerhouse soccer season drawing added consideration or momentum.
Still, Dawkins has quietly constructed a tradition constructed on perception, growth, and resilience.
He’s identified for ignoring outdoors noise, focusing as an alternative on participant progress and every day enchancment. His even-keel demeanor — one thing that dates again to his enjoying days — has develop into a cornerstone of the program’s identification. Dawkins avoids social media, would not chase headlines, and maintains a gradual presence day in and day trip.
That emotional self-discipline filters right down to his staff.
In a league full of excessive expectations and excessive stress, steadiness is a superpower.
Defining “Coach of the Year”
If Coach of the Year merely means “coach of the best team,” then historical past suggests the award will land with the regular-season champion. But if it means “coach who maximized his roster, overcame the longest odds, and delivered the most impressive turnaround,” then Johnny Dawkins stands alone.
I’ve rebuilt a whole roster.
I’ve defended 14th-place preseason projection.
He did it with restricted monetary firepower.
And he elevated UCF into the nationwide dialog in a single of the sport’s hardest leagues.
That’s what I name Coach of the Year type of teaching.
