Transfer portal additions unveiled
UCF men’s basketball officially announced the addition of three transfers as the week came to a close.
Utah forward Lahat Thione, ECU guard Brandon Suggs and Indiana forward Michael Durr are the newest members of Johnny Dawkins’ squad for the 2022-23 season.
The 6-6 Suggs is the most familiar to the Knights because he already plays in the AAC.
A three-year starter for the Pirates, Suggs is coming off his best season after averaging a career-high 10.1 points.
“We couldn’t be happier to bring a player of Brandon’s skillset on board,” Dawkins said in a release. “He’s an experienced player with plenty of versatility that can score in a variety of different ways and is selfless with the ball.”
In his time at ECU, Suggs — a swingman capable of playing at guard and forward — scored double-digits twice against the Knights. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
“He’s got a lot of experience within the conference and we’re happy that we don’t have to play against him twice a year anymore,” Dawkins said. “We can’t wait to get Brandon on campus and start workouts with the team.”
Durr also has some familiarity with the Knights. Prior to his one season at Indiana, the 7-foot center spent three years at UCF’s rival South Florida.
At the Tampa school, Durr started 85 of 87 games played and averaged 6.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1 block. In his last season at USF in 2020-21, he started all 19 games and averaged a career-best 8.8 points and 7.9 rebounds.
Coming off the bench this past season at Indiana, Durr saw his production drop while playing in 30 games. He averaged 1.5 points and 1.0 rebounds while shooting 73% from the free-throw line.
Dawkins is hoping to see the version of Durr that had past success in the AAC.
“Michael’s ability to defend and rebound at a high level, as well as his previous experience in the American, will be important assets to our team,” Dawkins said in a release.
“He’s a versatile scorer both in the low post and on the perimeter, and we can’t wait to get him on campus and get to work.”
Durr will by joined Thione in UCF’s frontcourt. The Utah transfer is the third big man from Dakar, Senegal, to play for Dawkins, joining former centers Tacko Fall and most recently Cheikh Mbacke Diong.
“Our entire staff is excited to bring Lahat in as a part of our UCF family,” Dawkins said in a release. “We love our Dakar hoopers and we believe Lahat will bring similar elements to his game that Mbacke and Tacko provided.”
The 6-foot-10 redshirt junior averaged a career-high 4 points and 3 rebounds while playing in 28 games for Utah last season (11-20, 4-16 Pac-12).
Thione, who attended Melbourne’s Florida Prep in high school with Diong, scored a season-high against Manhattan on Dec. 11, recording 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line.
“He’s a skilled big man with the sky as his limit, and we believe he will help us be a force in the paint for years to come,” Dawkins said. “We can’t wait to get him back in the state of Florida.”