SUCCESS OFF THE FIELD Since arriving in Orlando, George O’Leary has demanded that his players not only excel on the field, but also succeed in their academic studies. The Knights have followed O’Leary’s lead, pos�ng record numbers in the classroom on several occasions. During the fall of 2008, UCF posted the second-highest in-season grade point average in program history. Fi�y-five Knights had a GPA of 3.0 or be�er. At the conclusion of the 2009 spring semester, the Knights set an O’Leary era GPA record. Forty-nine Knights recorded a 3.0 GPA or better. Ten student-athletes received their bachelor’s degrees, including six current team members.
C-USA ACADEMICS During the 2008-09 year, a league-record 41 members of the football team earned spots on the Conference USA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll with a 3.0 grade point average or be�er. In 2009, 69 Knights will wear “Scholar-Baller” helmet decals emblema�c of a 3.0 GPA.
Sha’reff Rashad, who concluded his collegiate career in 2008, epitomized the Knights’ success in the classroom under O’Leary. The safety received his bachelor’s degree in criminal jus�ce, with a minor in psychology. A�er finishing his undergraduate studies with a 3.428 GPA, he began work on a master’s degree in criminal jus�ce. In spring 2009, Rashad was selected as one of 12 recipients of Conference USA’s Postgraduate Scholarship Awards. He was a semifinalist for the Draddy Trophy and a candidate for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. On the field in 2008, Rashad was an All-C-USA First Team pick a�er tying for second in the league with five intercep�ons and later signed a contract with the New York Giants.
COMMUNITY SERVICE Each year the Knights are ac�ve in the community, dona�ng their �me to worthy causes throughout central Florida. This past season, some of those ac�vi�es included visits to children at nearby hospitals and elementary schools along with a visit with special-needs students at a school on the UCF campus.