ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Basketball coach Johnny Dawkins has signed a two-year contract extension with the University of Central Florida that continues through the 2026-27 season, Vice President and Director of Athletics Terry Mohajir announced Friday.

The university did not announce financial terms of the contract.

“I love being here at UCF and am forever grateful for the opportunity this university has given me,” Dawkins said in post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In late March, Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 had reported that UCF had offered Dawkins an extension, but said at the time that the sides still were working on contract details.

Dawkins is 148-103 in his eight seasons as UCF’s coach, completing the 2018-19 and 2016-17 seasons with 24 victories each. He has led the Knights to postseason tournaments in four of those seasons, including reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2019 after beating VCU 73-58.

The Knights just missed knocking off top-seeded Duke in the second round when a tip-in at the buzzer rolled off the basket. The team also has played in three NIT Tournaments under Dawkins. The team has only finished under .500 in one season, 2020-21, with Dawkins as coach.

After the 2022-23 season, Knights forward Taylor Hendricks was drafted No. 9 overall by the Utah Jazz after his freshman season.

The 2023-24 season was UCF’s first in the strong Big 12, and the Knights won seven conference games in the regular season, including victories against Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech, when those teams were ranked in the Top 25. UCF also beat Oklahoma State in the league tournament.

"If you were one of the record-setting number of people who attended our home games this season, you saw firsthand how we competed under Johnny’s leadership in our first season in the nation’s toughest basketball conference," Mohajir said. "Johnny has done a great job leading this program and we’re excited he will continue to be our head coach."