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John Rhys Plumlee belts out Miley Cyrus' 'Party in the USA' at Big 12 Media Days

On3 imageby:Dan Morrison•07/13/23•

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John Rhys Plumlee
Julio Aguilar / Contributor PhotoG/Getty

While at Big 12 media days, UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee was asked about what song was best to get a crowd excited. He chose “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus.

Except, Plumlee didn’t just choose “Party in the USA,” he chose to sing the song to make sure everyone knew he wasn’t joking. He was more than serious to get everybody at Big 12 media days dancing along with him while he sang karaoke.

Watch UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee sing Party in the USA, here:

“That is tough,” Plumlee said. “I got it, ‘Party in the USA.'”

Of course, Plumlee couldn’t be the only one singing along. So, he went to any player he could find near him and got them to sing along too. That started with Javon Baker, a wide receiver on the team. He then moved on to offensive lineman Lokahi Pauole who was eating beef jerky at the time and didn’t seem like he knew the song. From there, things devolved into laughter.

This spring, John Rhys Plumlee made a name for himself as a two-sport athlete at UCF. He played a key role on the baseball team, starting most games, while going through spring practice. One day, that meant playing a baseball game and the football spring game on the same day.

It’s good to see Plumlee staying loose and having a good time at an event that’s supposed to be a reward to go to for players as they get ready to kick off their practices.

Gus Malzahn on how John Rhys Plumlee has evolved

Gus Malzahn recruited John Rhys Plumlee out of high school, but Plumlee chose Ole Miss over Auburn. However, the two met up again at UCF. Now, entering Plumlee’s second season in Orlando, Malzahn thinks Plumlee is a much improved quarterback.

“That’s the key, he can’t be our leading rusher. We ran him too much, you gotta keep in mind he didn’t play quarterback for a year and a half before last year. He was learning as we were playing games and then he hit a stride and started playing at a high level. And if he hadn’t got hurt, we would’ve finished really really well,” Malzahn said.

“But he is a complete, different quarterback right now than he was, it’s like night and day, so I’m very excited. When we’ve had a chance to win championships and play for national championships, we’ve had quarterbacks with his skillset and I feel really good about where he’s at right now.”