As the UCF men’s basketball team takes the court Saturday night against UAB, it will have significant meaning as it’s the team’s regular season finale and Senior Night, meaning it’s a farewell tribute to seniors A.J. Rompza and P.J. Gaynor, who will play their final regular season game in a Knights uniform.
“It’s gonna be tough, obviously I’m gonna have a lot of emotions. The last two days has been really tough for me, from a standpoint of just thinking about it…I usually keep to myself, but I think at a certain time you realize everything you accomplished in college, basketball wise – it’s coming to an end. You look at it, and it brings a lot of emotions,” Rompza said.
“Personally, I’ve looked at everything I’ve done and accomplished as a team- there is nothing you can do, but have a lot of emotion about it. It’s more of a proud thing, but also kind of a sad thing that it’s over.”
Rompza has been a staple of UCF basketball over the last four years, not only as a leader and motivator, but as a player that exemplifies hard work and dedication.
He has seen it all at him time at UCF, from the Coach Kirk Speraw and Jermaine Taylor days to the Donnie Jones and Marcus Jordan era, which includes many highs and lows, from back-t0-back 20-win seasons to NCAA recruiting violation allegations, in which Rompza was forced to sit out the first part of this season.
But through it all, Rompza evolved from an undersized Division 1 point guard to the Knights vocal captain, fan favorite and primary glue of the team. It was something Rompza didn’t expect to happen, but knew was possible due to his hard work.
“In all honesty- no (becoming the Knights captain), but in a way kinda, just because I worked so hard my entire life. When you work hard, you feel like you’re going to be rewarded. God knows who works hard, and who puts the time in rather than the people that just do it just to do it. I’ve had to earn every single thing. My entire life, I’ve had to prove people wrong. From high school, I started as a freshman on varsity on a very good team,” Rompza said.
“Everyone doubted me, saying I’m too small to play college basketball, telling me to go Division 2 or Division 3. I knew I worked my whole life to get a D1 scholarship. I knew I put the work in, and I knew hard work would pay off.”
Rompza might be small in height (5’9″), but he has more heart that anyone on the court. His work ethic, heart and belief in his talents has led to a great career at UCF.
Rompza has career averages of 6.5 points, 4.3 assists and 2.5 steals per game in four years. He has started 92 career games at point guard and ranks third in UCF history in assists and steals, with 464 and 203, respectively. Rompza is also ninth in Conference-USA history in steals.
Rompza has experienced so much in his time as a Knight that has been full of success and adversity, but he will walk away knowing he helped the program become what it is today.
For the people that know me, I feel like I left a pretty big impression. I wanna be remembered as a great teammate and good person to everybody, someone who gave it everything he had every time he stepped on the court. You wanna be remembered for the good things you’ve done, not the bad things. I think I’ve left my mark here,” Rompza said.
In addition to his on-court success, it was also announced Friday that Rompza was named to the Conference-USA Men’s Basketball All-Academic Team for his work in the classroom.
As for Gaynor, he has had a solid career as a role player for the Knights.
The 6’8″ forward averaged 4.1 points and three rebounds per game in 117 games with UCF. He was always a gritty, hard-nosed player, whether it was hustling for a loose ball or going up in traffic for a rebound, he did the little things that matter most in a game.
“I just want to be remembered as a hard worker, someone that worked hard and did everything I could while I was here,” Gaynor said.
Gaynor’s length and height helped the Knights in their frontcourt throughout the years, and he became popular for his random explosive dunks in games. Although Rompza might be the bigger fan favorite, it will be an emotional game for Gaynor as well after a successful tenure at UCF.
“I don’t want to say I’m gonna get emotional tomorrow, but I probably will. Just seeing all my family down here that’s always been down here to support me these four years- that will probably get me emotional,” Gaynor said.
The Knights square off with the Blazers 7 p.m. at the UCF Arena in their regular season finale, before the Conference-USA Tournament starts March 7 in Memphis.
If UCF has a strong showing in the tournament, there is still hope for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament, or at the very least, the National Invitational Tournament.
