When Themus Fulks was on the lookout to continue his college basketball journey, it didn’t take much to persuade the 6-foot-2 guard that UCF was the perfect fit for him.
Basketball took Fulks all over the country, with stops at South Carolina State, Dodge City Community College, Louisiana and lastly Milwaukee. It was with the Panthers last season that Fulks got his first glimpse of what life could be like with the Knights.
On Nov. 27, Milwaukee faced off against UCF in a non-conference matchup that the Knights ultimately claimed 84-76. During the game, Fulks contributed 13 points and 6 assists over 34 minutes of play.
However, it was in the vibrant atmosphere of Addition Financial Arena, with enthusiastic fans waving palm fronds in the student section, that he began to envision what it might be like to play for the Knights.
“I thought I could see myself playing here,” Fulks told the Sentinel in October. “I loved Orlando. I loved the facilities, I loved the environment and the crowd was into it.”
Fulks would go on to average a career-high 14.6 points and a team-high 5.9 assists for Milwaukee as the Panthers finished 21-11 and second in the Horizon League behind Robert Morris.
Following the season, he entered the transfer portal and made his first official visit to UCF.
“When I came on my visit, it just felt family-oriented,” said Fulks. “I felt like I had an opportunity to be myself on the court and also have an opportunity to win. It’s my last year, so I want to go out with a bang, and I have a phenomenal coaching staff behind me.”
He joined a UCF roster that returned 0% of its returning scoring from the previous season and welcomed 13 newcomers. The new group averaged more than 86 points per game last season, led by Fulks’ 14.6 points per game.
While Fulks is averaging just 8.7 points through the team’s first three games, he does lead the Knights with 18 assists and has been to the free-throw line a team-high 14 times.
hen he signed with UCF this offseason, Fulks wasn’t the only player to make the trip from Milwaukee.
Jamichael Stillwell also joined the Knights through the transfer portal, although their decisions did not coincide. The 6-8 senior forward spent two seasons at the JUCO level before playing for the Panthers last season. He became the first player in program history to average a double-double for the season, with 13 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.
“We played a lot of minutes together,” Fulks said of Stillwell. “We picked up right where we left off on the court, off the court. The connection and the chemistry are still there.”
“Coming from the point guard spot, he knows how I play and where my spot is [on the court], so it’s easy for him to find me,” Stillwell said.
Stillwell is third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in 21 minutes per game for the Knights.
Fulks and Stillwell aren’t the only pair of former teammates to join the UCF roster.
Riley Kugel and Jeremy Foumena spent last season at Mississippi State.
“It gave us instant chemistry,” coach Johnny Dawkins said of the teammates. “Having a few guys come in that have played together, at least you know those players, so there’s some familiarity. In both cases, both sets of players have really helped us in that regard because they know each other, even though they come from different systems.”
UCF (2-1) is coming off a 97-60 win over Florida A&M on Tuesday night during which Fulks had 6 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists while Stillwell had 6 points and 6 rebounds.
The Knights travel to Texas A&M (2-1) on Friday for the back end of a home-and-home series in which UCF pulled off a 64-61 upset last season in Orlando.
Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.
