| Mode: | Basketball |
| Year: | 2020–21 |
| Prev Year: | 2019–20 |
| Next Year: | 2021–22 |
| Team: | UCF Knights |
| Conference: | American Athletic Conference |
| Short Conf: | AAC |
| Record: | 11-12 |
| Conf Record: | 8–10 |
| Head Coach: | Johnny Dawkins |
| Hc Year: | 5th |
| Asst Coach1: | Kevin Norris |
| Ac1 Year: | 5th |
| Asst Coach2: | Vince Taylor |
| Ac2 Year: | 4th |
| Asst Coach3: | Robbie Laing |
| Ac3 Year: | 5th |
| Arena: | Addition Financial Arena |
The 2020–21 UCF Knights men's basketball team represents the University of Central Florida during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Knights are members of the American Athletic Conference. The Knights, in the program's 52nd season of basketball, are led by fifth-year head coach Johnny Dawkins and play their home games at the Addition Financial Arena on the university's main campus in Orlando, Florida. They finished the season 11-12, 8-10 in AAC Play to finish in 6th place. They defeated East Carolina in the first round of the AAC tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Memphis.
The Knights finished the 2019–20 season 16–14 overall and 7–11 in AAC play to finish in eighth place. They entered as the No. 8 seed in the AAC tournament, which was ultimately cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | F | 6'11" | 225 | Transferred to Southern Utah (mid-season)[1] | ||||
| 2 | G | 6'5" | 210 | Completed college eligibility | ||||
| Ceasar DeJesus | 4 | G | 6'2" | 190 | Play professionally[2] | |||
| Dazon Ingram | 12 | G | 6'6" | 205 | Completed college eligibility | |||
| Frank Bertz | 20 | G | 6'5" | 180 | Graduated | |||
| Collin Smith | 35 | F | 6'11" | 240 | Left the team due to health issues |
| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | 185 | Transferred from Louisville after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately.[3] | ||||
| F | 205 | Transferred from Oregon. Walker was granted a waiver for immediate eligibility.[4] Will have three years of remaining eligibility.[5] | ||||
On October 28, The American released the preseason Poll and other preseason awards[6]
| Coaches Poll | |||
| 1 | Houston | 99 (2) | |
| 2 | Memphis | 90 (2) | |
| 3 | SMU | 80 | |
| 4 | Cincinnati | 77 | |
| 5 | South Florida | 61 | |
| 6 | Tulsa | 50 | |
| 7 | Wichita State | 44 | |
| 8 | UCF | 37 | |
| 9 | East Carolina | 34 | |
| 10 | Temple | 18 | |
| 11 | Tulane | 15 | |
UCF will start a series with Michigan beginning this season in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[7]
See main article: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Knights' schedule is subject to change, including the cancellation or postponement of individual games, the cancellation of the entire season, or games played either with minimal fans or without fans in attendance and just essential personnel.
|-!colspan=9 style=| Regular season|-!colspan=9 style=|American Athletic Conference tournament|-|-
Source[11]