UCF Knights Taylor Hendricks Unanimously Named to All-Rookie Team, Earns Second Team Honor
By UCF Knights // March 9, 2023
set The American record for most Rookie of the Week nods in a season
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – After a remarkable rookie campaign, UCF men’s basketball’s Taylor Hendricks has been unanimously named to the American Athletic Conference’s All-Freshman Team and earned a Second Team All-Conference nod as well.
Hendricks set The American record for most Rookie of the Week nods in a season, tallying nine honors.
The league’s weekly awards were handed out 17 times this season, meaning Hendricks was honored as Rookie of the Week more times than he wasn’t.
He also set the conference record for most consecutive Rookie of the Week honors, earning four straight from Nov. 21-Dec. 12.
He won the award in four of the first five weeks of the season and finished the year winning three-of-four possible honors. Hendricks was named to the weekly honor roll on Nov. 14, meaning he was recognized by the conference in the first five weeks of the campaign.
On the season, Hendricks averaged 15.6 points and 6.8 rebounds a game.
He tallied a conference-leading 51 blocks and added 27 steals in the process. He shot 48.8% from the field and 41.3% from the three-point line.
In conference play, Hendricks did more of the same averaging 15.8 points and 6.6. boards per contest, registering 31 of his 51 blocks in league play. He snatched 19 steals and registered 29 assists while shooting 49% from the floor and 38.6% from beyond the arc.
Nearly all of Hendricks’ marks were better in conference play than that of the league’s selected Freshman of the Year. He averaged 3.4 more points per game, shot 4.2% better from the three-point line, 1.8% better from the field, and had 14 more blocks and two additional steals.
The only area he didn’t have the edge in was rebounding (0.5 rebounds per game difference) and assists, where both were tied with 19.
Hendricks scored 20 or more points in six games this season, hitting his career-high twice.
He scored 25 points on the road at Tulsa to top his previous best of 23 which he achieved twice, before scoring 25 again on the final day of the regular season against ECU.
He tallied five double-doubles along the way, earning his first against Florida State in the second game of the season, earning 15 points and grabbing 12 boards.
Earlier in the season, Hendricks had been honored as the Baha Mar Hoops MVP as well as a spot on the All-Tournament Team. He earned his second career double-double in the tournament’s semifinal matchup against Oklahoma State before dropping 19 against Santa Clara to help the team win the title.
Hendricks is the first Knight to be named All-Conference Second Team or better since the 2018-19 season when Aubrey Dawkins was bestowed with the honor, and B.J. Taylor was named to the First Team.
A Trio of Knights have made the Third Team over the past two seasons.
Hendricks’ nod makes it back-to-back seasons where a Knight has been named to the All-Freshman Team. Current teammate Darius Johnson earned the honor last season. Hendricks and Johnson are two of five total Knights to be named to the league’s rookie squad.
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