When Amway Arena opened in 1989, U. Central Florida and the University of Florida both played in separate games on the first night of college hoops in the building’s history.
Now the programs will be pitted against each other on Dec. 1 for the inaugural college basketball game in the new Amway Center.
The specific details of the meeting, dubbed the Florida Citrus Sports Shootout, were revealed at a news conference in Downtown Orlando on Thursday.
New UCF head coach Donnie Jones sees this game as a great showcase.
“We’re excited about it,” Jones said. “I know it’s a great opportunity for our program at UCF to have the presence of the Florida Gators coming to town here. To have that kind of exposure for us, right here in Orlando, with what we’re trying to build at UCF, is just a great experience.”
The venue to host the game, Amway Center, is undergoing its final stages of construction and is set to open in October. Capacity for the new arena is slated at 18,500.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer was at the conference and spoke about the plan to host events of high interest at the new facility.
“I think what better way to establish the first collegiate sporting event than having a basketball game between the Florida Gators and the UCF Knights, my two favorite college teams,” Dyer said. “Next month in July, we will be announcing a whole host of events to open the events center in October and November. There’s going to be something for just about everyone, but the No. 1 event for Gators and for Knights is going to be on Dec. 1.”
Jones will try to become the first ever UCF head coach to win against the Gators.
The Knights are 0-9 all-time against Florida, last losing 89-61 on Dec. 20, 2008, in Jacksonville.
The series between the two Florida schools dates back considerably.
The Gators were the Knights’ opening-game opponent in 1984, their first season of Division I basketball.
While this game was in the works for months, the addition of Donnie Jones into the UCF program certainly pushed things along. Jones won two national championships as an assistant coach under Gators head man Billy Donovan at Florida from 1996-2007.
Donovan praised the coach he is very familiar with.
“Obviously, the guy next to me (Donnie Jones) means the world to me,” Donovan said. “I was very, very happy to hear the news when Keith Tribble decided to hire Donnie. He’s a great guy and a terrific coach. I think he knows he’s walking into a situation there at Central
Florida that’s got great potential and great ability with the size of the school, the academics and certainly the facility where they’re playing.”
Tickets are on sale now and range from $15-$100. With the game being a neutral site contest operated by Florida Citrus Sports, there are not yet any specific student ticket allocations.
UCF Sports Marketing encourages students to purchase the $15 seats in the lower bowl behind the basket. For all other ticket information, call 407-423-2476 or go to Ticketmaster.com.
Back in 1989, UCF beat Rollins and Florida lost to Stanford on the opening night of college basketball in Amway Arena.
Come December, the Knights are hoping for a bit of a repeat.