Knightro

Official Mascot of the University of Central Florida

University| University of Central Florida
Conference| Big 12
Description| Knight
First seen| October 21, 1994; 30 years ago (October 21, 1994)
Related mascot(s)| Citronaut (retired), Glycerin
(Girlfriend; retired)[1]

Knightro is the official mascot of the University of Central Florida, and its sports teams, the Knights.[1] Knightro debuted in 1994, and appears at UCF sporting events and also appears at UCF-related functions. He occasionally uses a custom go-kart designed and built by UCF Engineering students and other members of UCF Athletics, dubbed "Pegasus 1." He has previously used a custom car designed and built by UCF Engineering students dubbed "Chariot II."[2]

## History

[edit]

Knightro Knightro UCF Logo, 2007–2021

In 1994 a committee was formed to explore and develop a character mascot that would attend athletics events. A number of drawings were submitted by Trey Gordon who was Fraternity Brothers with the student (Robert Morris) who named the new mascot ironically. With Linda Gooch, Gordon and SGA commissioned Metropolis Graphics to sketch a knight. Knightro's Name came from an election held by the Student Government and the winning submission was from Robert Morris (the Senate Pro Tempore at the time) with UCF's first mascot had been the Citronaut in 1969.[3]

The first costume was made by Costume World, of Pompano Beach. Gordon filled the mascot position during that first season of 1994-95. At the start of the 1995-96 season, Trey recruited a freshman engineering student named Jay Lovelace to join him. Lovelace would fill the position of Knightro for four more years. In 1996, a new Knightro was created by a Disney character developer, and the female "Glycerin" was added. But after two years, the costumes had fallen apart.

In 1998, Dave Minichello, of Wizzards Production, created the molds for the third rendition of Knightro. In 2000, Glycerin was phased out and a glitter finish was added to Knightro's coat. In 2005-2006, a group of senior engineering students, as a part of their senior project, created a motorized car, called the Chariot II, for Knightro to use during the annual Homecoming Parade. Chariot II was also used during home football games and other occasions. In 2019 Knightro began using his go-kart, Pegasus 1, for many occasions on campus.

Today, Knightro is operated by the Team Knightro Mascot Squad, which consists of approximately 8 students who perform in costume at all football games, men's and women's basketball games, other athletic events, pep rallies, and special events and appearances. The head coach for Team Knightro is Michael "Mike" Callahan, a former member of Team Knightro.

The mascot was revised for the 2007 season, as part of the "Knights are Coming Home" campaign, where the athletics department dropped "Golden" from the team name, released new logos, and opened new on-campus venues (Bright House Networks Stadium and the new CFE Arena.)[4] Knightro's look has been updated to closely resemble the new logo, this time with a fully enclosed helmet. The newest addition to Knightro includes his name spelled out on the back of his cape.

## Competitions

[edit]

Knightro and friends UKNIGHT for UCF Football.

Knightro competed in the UCA Mascot National Championships for many years and was ranked numerous times. He placed in the following positions: 1994: 4th place, 1996: 6th place, 2003: 10th place, 2004: 10th place, 2008: 8th place, and 2011: 9th place.[5][1]

Knightro also placed second in EA Sports' fan poll to select the mascot that would grace the cover of the Wii version of NCAA Football 09. EA Sports used the older version of Knightro for the poll and all related material, even though it was held exclusively in 2008, after Knightro's redesign.[6]

## Community service

[edit]

Knightro is a fan of community service and regularly can be seen helping out in the Orlando and UCF communities. As part of his community service, he regularly attends the Celebrity Mascot Games which are held in Orlando every year and benefit the New Hope For Kids charity.[7] As part of competing for a national championship, Knightro routinely creates entry videos that demonstrate the impact he has in the UCF community.[8]

## Training

[edit]

Knightro trains throughout the summer and regularly during the school year so that he will always be ready to support the UCF community. During the Spring of every year, tryouts are held for the new members of Team Knightro.[9]

## See also

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Knightro.

* Pegasus
* UCF Knights
* University of Central Florida

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Golden Knights is born Archived 2007-10-27 at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ UCF Engineering Students Design New Car for Mascot Knightro
3. ^ "An orange. An astronaut. Almost a mascot". University of Central Florida. 2009-07-17. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
4. ^ "UCF Athletics Reveals New Logo and Font". UCF Athletics Association. Archived from the original on 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
5. ^ "UCF Cheerleaders Earn Third Place at 2011 Nationals". UCF Athletics Association. 2011-01-16. Archived from the original on 2012-07-30. Retrieved 2011-01-17.
6. ^ NCAA Football 09 Archived 2008-07-02 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ Celebrity Mascot Games
8. ^ Knightro Nationals Video 2010
9. ^ UCF Spirit

## External links

[edit]

* Official Website
* Knightro Nationals Video 2010
* UCF Mascot Historic Timeline - Infographic

* v
* t
* e

University of Central Florida

Located in: Orlando, Florida

Campuses|

* Orlando Main Campus
* Downtown Orlando
* Health Sciences
* Rosen
* Regional campuses

Academics|

* The Burnett Honors College
* College of Arts and Humanities
* College of Business Administration
* College of Dental Medicine
* College of Education and Human Performance
* College of Engineering and Computer Science
* College of Graduate Studies
* College of Health and Public Affairs
* College of Medicine
* College of Nursing
* College of Optics and Photonics
* College of Sciences
* Undergraduate Studies
* Rosen College of Hospitality Management

Athletics|

| Teams|

* Baseball
* Men's basketball
* Women's basketball
* Football
* Men's soccer
* Women's soccer
* Softball
* Track and field
* Women's volleyball

|

Venues|

* Acrisure Bounce House
* Addition Financial Arena
* John Euliano Park
* The Venue at UCF
* Soccer and Track Stadium
* Softball Complex

Related|

* South Florida rivalry
* Big 12 Conference

Facilities|

* Arboretum
* Burnett House
* Knights Plaza
* Robinson Observatory
* Sanford Grammar School
* UCF Library System
* University Housing

Research|

* UCF Research Centers
* Center for Emerging Media
* Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers
* Central Florida Research Park
* Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy
* Florida Solar Energy Center
* Florida Space Institute
* Innovation Way
* Institute for Economic Competitiveness
* Institute for Simulation and Training
* Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government
* National Center for Forensic Science
* National Center for Simulation

Department of Defense Research Centers: Air Force Agency for Modeling and Simulation • Army Simulation and Training Technology Center • Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division

Media|

* Central Florida Future
* Centric
* The Florida Review
* WUCF-FM
* WUCF-TV

Traditions|

* University History
* Citronaut
* KnightMoves
* Knightro
* Marching Knights
* Pegasus
* Spirit Splash
* UCF Fight Song

Student life|

* Greek life
* Recreation
* Student government
* Student housing

People|

* Alumni
* Athletic directors
* Board of trustees
* Faculty and administrators
* Police department
* Presidents

* Founded: 1963
* Students: 63,016
* Endowment: 155.5 million

* v
* t
* e

UCF Knights football

Venues|

* Citrus Bowl (1979–2006)
* Acrisure Bounce House (2007–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Cincinnati
* South Florida

Culture & lore|

* Civil Conflict
* Knightro
* "Charge On"
* Marching Knights
* Space Game
* Kernkraft 400

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

National championship seasons in bold

* v
* t
* e

UCF Knights men's basketball

Venues|

* Education Gymnasium (1969–1991)
* UCF Arena (1991–2007)
* Addition Financial Arena (2007–present)

Rivalries|

* South Florida

Culture & lore|

* Knightro
* Marching Knights

People|

* Head coaches
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* List of seasons
* 1969–70
* 1970–71
* 1971–72
* 1972–73
* 1973–74
* 1974–75
* 1975–76
* 1976–77
* 1977–78
* 1978–79
* 1979–80
* 1980–81
* 1981–82
* 1982–83
* 1983–84
* 1984–85
* 1985–86
* 1986–87
* 1987–88
* 1988–89
* 1989–90
* 1990–91
* 1991–92
* 1992–93
* 1993–94
* 1994–95
* 1995–96
* 1996–97
* 1997–98
* 1998–99
* 1999–2000
* 2000–01
* 2001–02
* 2002–03
* 2003–04
* 2004–05
* 2005–06
* 2006–07
* 2007–08
* 2008–09
* 2009–10
* 2010–11
* 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20
* 2020–21
* 2021–22
* 2022–23
* 2023–24
* 2024–25

* v
* t
* e

UCF Knights women's basketball

Venues|

* Education Gymnasium (1977–1991)
* UCF Arena (1991–2007)
* Addition Financial Arena (2007–present)

Rivalries|

* South Florida

Culture & lore|

* History
* Knightro
* Marching Knights

People|

* Head coaches

Seasons|

* 1977–78
* 1978–79
* 1979–80
* 1980–81
* 1981–82
* 1982–83
* 1983–84
* 1984–85
* 1985–86
* 1986–87
* 1987–88
* 1988–89
* 1989–90
* 1990–91
* 1991–92
* 1992–93
* 1993–94
* 1994–95
* 1995–96
* 1996–97
* 1997–98
* 1998–99
* 1999–2000
* 2000–01
* 2001–02
* 2002–03
* 2003–04
* 2004–05
* 2005–06
* 2006–07
* 2007–08
* 2008–09
* 2009–10
* 2010–11
* 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20
* 2020–21
* 2021–22
* 2022–23
* 2023–24
* 2024–25

* v
* t
* e

UCF Knights men's soccer

Venues|

* UCF Soccer and Track Stadium (1991–present)

Rivalries|

* South Florida
* Big 12 (West Virginia) (2023)

Culture & lore|

* Knightro
* "Charge On"
* Marching Knights
* Citronaut

Seasons|

* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023

National championship seasons in bold; College Cup seasons in italics

* v
* t
* e

Mascots of the Big 12 Conference

Current mascots|

* Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat (Arizona)
* Sparky the Sun Devil (Arizona State)
* Bruiser and Marigold (Baylor)
* Cosmo the Cougar (BYU)
* The Bearcat (Cincinnati)
* Ralphie the Buffalo / Chip (Colorado)
* Shasta (Houston)
* Cy the Cardinal (Iowa State)
* Big Jay / Baby Jay (Kansas)
* Willie the Wildcat (Kansas State)
* Pistol Pete / Bullet (Oklahoma State)
* Super Frog (TCU)
* The Masked Rider / Raider Red (Texas Tech)
* Knightro (UCF)
* Swoop (Utah)
* Mountaineer (West Virginia)

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