Aubrey Dawkins gives UCF instant spark

Aubrey Dawkins hasn't played a NCAA basketball game in two years, but he certainly made his presence felt in his second week back.

Dawkins earned American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors after helping lead UCF to the Myrtle Beach Invitational Championship, scoring 21 points in the title game against Western Kentucky. Dawkins has scored in double figures in all five of UCF's games this season.

On Wednesday, the redshirt junior spoke to local media.

It seems like the FAU game was forever ago. Losses are going to happen. You weren't going to go 30-0. But that game, a game you felt you should have won, did that do anything in the days afterward preparing for Myrtle Beach to really say, hey, we've got to lock down and improve if we want to win?

"I think so. I think it opened our guys. I've said it before. We're not invincible. Games are going to go up and down. We're going to have some low points. We've got to do our best to learn from it and keep moving on. That's what it did. We learned from it. It turned out well for us in the tournament."

In the tournament, do you think that's the kind of team you can be?

"Absolutely. We saw flashes of what it's like to be that. Now we know what it takes to get there. From here on out, hopefully we remember what it took to get that championship and we'll go from there."

How fun was it seeing how everybody contributing? It wasn't like maybe one guy was the leading scorer. You're stepping up. Terrell is showing off. Obviously B.J., Tacko and Collin. It's a team effort.

"Balanced offense. That's the best. It makes us hard to guard when you have to worry about all five guys. It's hard to win games when it's three on five or two on five. Only two guys scoring the points, you can zero in on those guys. But when everybody is scoring and is a threat, it makes it hard for a team to shut you down."

Second week back and you get conference player of the week. Any pride in that?

"I appreciate it. I'm very grateful for it. It's been a long time. I don't pay too much attention to it. I'm happy I got it. It's not my end goal."

We know you're a very good long range shooter. I imagine the first couple games weren't to the level that you know you can shoot. Particularly in the second half of that Western Kentucky game, how satisfying was it to see those shots fall?

"I've gotten a lot of shots up. It felt good. It's one game. I've got many more games to go. Hopefully I can at least do that or maybe better. Who knows. I'm not sure what the future holds. I'm not going to worry about the misses and makes and the highs and lows. It's a game. I did well. But I'll have low games again. Just like any other game."

What's the message now moving forward?

"It's in the past. It's over. On to the next game now. We've got focus on our next game and our next opponent. They're not worried about our championship win. They don't care about what we just did. They're coming in here to beat us and we've got to be ready for that."

What have you seen from Terrell Allen? He's a guy we didn't see a lot of offensive game from him last year. Looks like he's really stepped up and improved. Is that something you've seen him work at?

"He's been very dedicated to the game, especially this past summer. It's showing off. The classic story of hard work pays off. When you put the time in and sacrifice things you want to do for this game, it'll show. That's just what it did. He's a humble guy. He's not going to say much. I see it and we all see it. We're happy for him."

Are you the only 20-something or the only UCF student-athlete that doesn't have any social media?

"Probably. More than likely. Makes me special I guess."

Just don't have time or don't care for it?

"I had it. Deleted it a while ago. Had it at Michigan. When I first got here, knowing I wasn't on it that much at Michigan, just got rid of it. It was cool for the moment. Obviously Michigan has a ton of fans and got a lot of followers, but I don't care about that. When I wake up in the morning, I'm not excited about it. So I got rid of it. Didn't have Twitter. Haven't had Facebook for a long time. I don't really care for it honestly. It's a distraction more than anything else."

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for?

"Waking up this morning and every morning before this. Just grateful for life and playing for my dad."

We asked your dad what his favorite Thanksgiving dish is and he says your mom makes a great banana pudding.

"Banana pudding. Sweet potato pie. Yeah, she definitely throws it down. Looking forward to that. Tomorrow will be a good day."