It's been a long time coming for UCF and Marchelus Avery. He initially committed to the Knights in January 2020, but had a change of plans a few months later as he had to begin his career via the JUCO route. He played one year at Northwest Florida State and then signed with New Mexico State where he played the last two years.

It was a rough year for the NMSU program, though Avery persevered averaging 8.2 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game. He transferred into UCF during the offseason.