UCF men’s basketball gets pledge from Jacksonville transfer Omar Payne

After losing five players to the NCAA transfer portal since the start of the offseason, UCF men’s basketball coach Johnny Dawkins was able to add to his roster Wednesday night.

Jacksonville University forward Omar Payne announced on social media he is transferring to join the Knights for their inaugural season in the Big 12 Conference.

The transfer to UCF is a homecoming of sorts for the Kissimmee native. A 4-star in the 2019 recruiting cycle, Payne played high school basketball at Osceola before enrolling at Monteverde Academy.

Jacksonville's Omar Payne (0) announced Wednesday night he is transferring to UCF. (Ben McKeown/AP)

UCF will be Payne’s fourth college after he opened his time at the University of Florida for two years, spent one season at Illinois and played last year at Jacksonville.

Payne averaged 3.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 54 games with 15 starts over two seasons at Florida. In that stretch, he posted five double-figure scoring games and one double-double.

In his one season at Illinois, the 6-foot-10 forward played in 32 games, averaging 1.8 points and 1.7 rebounds.

His production slightly increased at Jacksonville as he averaged a career-high 4.8 points and 3.2 rebounds. He played in 25 games and made nine starts while leading the Dolphins in field goal percentage (59.8%) and blocks (26).

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The Knights were in need of an experienced forward. Starter Michael Durr exhausted his college eligibility while backup Lahat Thioune, who was one of four Knights to appear in all 34 games last season, entered the portal last month.

UCF guards Ty Freeman, PJ Edwards and Jayhlon Young as well as wing Brandon Suggs are all transferring out, too.

While Dawkins has his work cut out for him in the portal, the addition of Payne is a start. The four-year player has one season of eligibility remaining after playing in 111 college games throughout the course of his career.

Email Jason Beede at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @therealBeede.