Dawkins, son relish season

UCF’s Johnny Dawkins was hesitant about coaching his son, Aubrey, when the younger Dawkins decided to transfer after two seasons at Michigan.

But things could not have worked out much better for those two.

The ninth-seeded Knights will take on top overall seed Duke for a spot in the Sweet 16 on Sunday. Johnny Dawkins, who ranks second on Duke’s all-time scoring list, used to train Aubrey as a boy and teenager after his day job either as a Blue Devils assistant from 1998 to 2008 or as Stanford head coach after that.

Dad was concerned the good father-son relationship might strain if Aubrey played for him, but friends and fellow coaches like Steve Alford said he shouldn’t miss that experience.

“They were absolutely right,” Johnny Dawkins said Saturday.

Aubrey Dawkins, a redshirt junior, is averaging 15.1 points a game. Aubrey Dawkins has also loved the time together. He likes that his father treats him like the rest of his teammates.

“We don’t see it as father-son,” UCF center Tacko Fall said. “We see all of us as his sons.”

No Cinderella: It may be a No. 9 seed going against No. 1 seed Virginia on Sunday, but don’t call Oklahoma a Cinderella.

In the South bracket, where three double-digit seeds survived the first round and the winner of Sunday’s OklahomaVirginia game will play the winner of No. 12 Oregon and No. 13 UC Irvine, Sooners guard Christian James said the slipper doesn’t fit his team.

James said Oklahoma expected to be in the tournament’s second round even after a five-game losing streak during Big 12 play.

The senior was also part of the Oklahoma team that went to the Final Four in 2016.

Grieving Cofer sits: Phil Cofer didn’t play in Florida State’s second-round game against Murray State.

The senior forward found out after Thursday’s victory over Vermont that his father had died.

Cofer was with his team Saturday, but he wasn’t in uniform and was wearing a plastic boot on his sore right foot. He listened to the national anthem with his head down and rubbed at his eyes.

After the song was over, teammate Terrance Mann, standing next to Cofer, gave him a hug and a pat on the chest.

The teams left the floor before introductions and some Murray State players came over to Cofer to give him a hug or pat on the back.

Cofer sat on the bench during the game.