Fans turn out to support Knights
UCF fans were eager to follow the Knights to Madison Square Garden, invading the Big Apple.
About 24 hours before the NIT matchup between UCF and TCU, the school’s official pregame party sold out. Tickets for the ChargeOn Pregame Party at Carragher’s Pub reached the maximum capacity of 500 participants by early Monday morning. As of last Saturday afternoon, the party was more than half-way booked with 282 RSVPs.
“We are not surprised at all,” said who is the executive chair for the New York UCF alumni chapter. “We are beyond thrilled that things are turning out the way we thought they would. Given the season of in 2013, as soon as the wheels start cranking with anything UCF [related], the masses definitely turn out.”
Rooney, 31, has lived in the city for seven years and said the New York alumni chapter regularly fields anywhere from 100 to 300 attendees for football watch parties. The group averages up to 30 attendees for basketball watch parties, but that number will likely jump next season with the success of the Knights under first-year coach
The New York chapter is the largest alumni group behind Orlando, with about 2,500 alums living in the city alone. The number does not include those living and working in New Jersey.
But alumni all over the country are excited about the prospect of a burgeoning basketball program. Just hours after UCF knocked out Illinois before a sold-out crowd at CFE Arena,
booked flight to New York.
Bayes, who is a former UCF student body president, lives in St. Louis. He his and about 35 personal friends planned a trip together to Madison Square Garden.
“I’m really excited for the future because I think Johnny Dawkins as an individual seems like a great leader,” Bayes said. “I think that will benefit the program, that will benefit the school. For us to be able to go to New York and play on that stage just gives us more respect.”
scored a game-high 22 points to lead Georgia Tech to a 76-61 win over Cal State-Bakersfield in the early NIT semifinal Tuesday night.
finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for Georgia Tech, which will take on the winner of the TCU-UCF game in the championship tilt Thursday night. added Tadric
13 points, and Jackson had 12.
The Yellow Jackets led virtually the entire game, due to a strong defensive effort and excellent ball management. Georgia Tech forced 15 turnovers while only committing seven.