Johnny Dawkins is new coach at Central Florida

Johnny Dawkins says becoming Central Florida’s men’s basketball coach is a chance for him to do “something special.” UCF formally introduced Dawkins as the program’s seventh coach Thursday.

Dawkins, 52, comes to the Knights after an eight-year stint as the head coach of at Stanford. The former Duke All-American was fired last week.

“I love to compete and I was so happy when I got the call and had the opportunity to interview for an institution like this because it allowed me a chance to get right back in the saddle and start competing,” said Dawkins, who agreed to a six-year contract that can pay him up to $1,350,000 annually. “That’s who I am; I’m a coach, I’m an educator. It wouldn’t felt right not being involved with calling a recruit, not involved with interacting with someone on campus.

“For the two days or three days I was in that position it felt odd to me. For the last almost 20 years that has been a part of me.”

Dawkins takes over a program that has struggled since entering the American Athletic Conference a few years ago. The Knights went 12-18 this past season and were bounced in the first round of the conference tournament by No. 10 seed Tulane. Donnie Jones was fired March 10. The Knights have won just 15 of 40 AAC games in the last three seasons.

Now, Dawkins is charged with turning things around. Dawkins, 52, believes all of the pieces are in place to be UCF back on track as the program’s seventh head coach.

“I think the possibilities of this job has unlimited potential,” he said. “It’s a meaningful opportunity for somebody in my position to grow and build something special. I’ve been a part of that as a player and a part of it as a coach and so I want to be a part of it here.

“But it’s not going to be just me, it’s going to be our student athletes, it’s going to be our alumni, it’s going to be our fans, our students. We need everyone to accomplish this and that is what I’m excited about. That’s leadership. It’s trying to pull everyone together so that we can move in the same direction.”

Dawkins wasn’t quite able to pull things together at Stanford the way the fans had hoped. He guided the Cardinal to the Sweet 16 two years ago in his lone NCAA Tournament appearance at Stanford. There were two NIT championships but it was far from the level success the Cardinal faithful had come to expect. Dawkins went 156-115 overall and 66-78 in Pac-12 play during his tenure. This season the Cardinal went 15-15, 8-10.

Goodman leaving Arizona State

Arizona State forward Savon Goodman is leaving the program and will be eligible immediately as a graduate transfer.

The 6-foot-6 forward averaged 9.6 rebounds and 6.4 rebounds in 28 games, including six starts. He was suspended four games in December for undisclosed rules violations and never fully returned to form.

Goodman started his college career at Nevada Las Vegas, but was suspended an entire season after being charged with burglary, grand larceny and conspiracy to commit burglary in 2013.

N.C. State’s Martin twins will transfer

Twins Caleb and Cody Martin are transferring from North Carolina State.

Coach Mark Gottfried announced their decision Thursday following what he said was “a series of honest, thoughtful and somewhat surprising conversations” they’ve had since the season ended.

The 6-7 brothers, who play guard and forward, ranked fourth and fifth in scoring on the team in scoring, with Caleb averaging 11.5 points and Cody scoring 6.0 points per game. They combined to start 35 games as sophomores this season.

The announcement came two days after Anthony “Cat” Barber said he would skip his final season at N.C. State to pursue an NBA career.