UCF coach Johnny Dawkins earns bonus for beating Florida in NIT

The UCF Knights men’s basketball team thoroughly dominated their in-state rivals, the Florida Gators on Wednesday night in the first round of the NIT. The Knights whipped the Gators to the tune of a 67-49 beatdown. To make things even worse for the Gators, UCF Knights head coach Johnny Dawkins got received a small bonus for the win. He earned a $2,500 bonus to go with the $5,000 he won for earning an invitation to the NIT.

Check out the tweet below from Steve Berkowitz of USA Today.

UCF defeats Florida in a men's NIT first-round game, which will givue UCF coach Johnny Dawkins a $2,500 bonus to go with the $5,000 he is getting for the NIT bid. (h/t to @RathLouise for the help with this one.)

— Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) March 16, 2023

UCF dominated Florida in numerous statistical categories on Wednesday night, including rebounding (38-28), field goal percentage (52.7 percent to 32.2 percent), and three-point percentage (40 percent to 16.7 percent).

C.J. Kelly led the Knights in the big win, stuffing the stat sheet with 21 points, four rebounds, and two assists.

During his college coaching career, Dawkins began as an assistant under legendary head coach Mike Kryzyzewski with the Duke Blue Devils in 1998. Then, he stayed there as an assistant coach until 2008. Dawkins then moved on to become the head coach of the Stanford Cardinal from 2008-2016. His best season with the Cardinal came when he guided them to a Sweet 16 appearance in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. He’s been the head coach with the UCF Knights since 20016. Dawkins’ best season with UCF came in 2018-2019, when he guided them to a 24-9 overall record and a berth in the Round of 32 in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

With their win tonight, UCF advances to the second round of the NIT. They’ll face the winner of the Oregon vs. UC-Irvine game.

During his collegiate playing career for the Duke Blue Devils, Dawkins established himself as one of the most prolific players in school history. He became the school’s all-time leading scorer, before that record was broken by J.J. Redick. Dawkins was also a two-time consensus All-American during his time there. He also earned Naismith Player of the Year honors in 1986–given to the best player in college basketball.