Fred Davis II is back home in the Sunshine State.

Davis, a Jacksonville native who spent his first three years at Clemson, transferred to UCF in January. The cornerback will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

We caught up with Davis and several other transfers during a press conference last week.

"Jacksonville is two hours away from Orlando," Davis said. "UCF going to the Big 12. Why not? It's close to home. I'm ready to keep building on and just win. We have a lot of opportunities to get everything going and kick it up a notch."

As a five-star prospect early in his recruitment, Davis had offers from virtually everyone coming out of Jacksonville's Trinity Christian Academy in the Class of 2020. He was heavily targeted by Gus Malzahn who was then the head coach at Auburn.

"I wanted my next move to be my best move," Davis said. "I wanted something stable. I know UCF is going into the Big 12 and Coach Gus will be here for some time. I had a relationship with him prior so that played a big part as well... I felt UCF was the best opportunity for me... The coaches, they're not going to fake it. They're real. That's really what made my decision to come to UCF."

A couple current players aided in the recruiting process.

"I want to give a shout out to the ones who got me on board, (UCF wide receivers) Kobe Hudson and Javon Baker," Davis said. "They got with the coaches and then (defensive coordinator) Coach Addison (Williams) hit me up. It went from there. As soon as I came here on a visit, I knew where I wanted to go."

Davis was an immediate contributor at Clemson in 2020, playing in 183 snaps over 11 games and finishing with 13 tackles and two pass breakups. In 2021, Davis played in nine games (137 snaps) with six tackles. He entered the 2022 season as a starter before being sidelined by an ankle injury after game four. He would finish with 13 tackles, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery.

He's ready to make an impact in UCF's secondary, wherever that may be. What makes him a good corner?

"I can definitely come up and tackle," Davis said. "I'm not afraid to tackle. I'm a long, physical corner that's good at pressing."

Growing up in Jacksonville, Davis was familiar with UCF due to a couple friends who became Knights - Otis Anderson and Eriq Gilyard.

"I grew up watching UCF," Davis said. "It just means a lot to be a part of the process. I'm ready to get going and win. I know that's what we're going to do. I'm excited."

UCF's inaugural Big 12 schedule dropped last week, which makes the impending move all that more real.

"We're trying to win it all," Davis said. "That's really it. We've been working hard. That's the ultimate goal. We've got the numbers. This is going to be a special team."