Alonza Barnett III had an amazing career with the JMU Dukes, and he was able to showcase his talents in the CFP this season with JMU in that game in Eugene vs the Ducks. Now he has officially made his announcement of where he’s playing his in the last season of eligibility, which is the UCF Knights. Barnett III is now taking his talents to the Big 12 conference with a chance to prove himself even more so in a Power Four Conference. Here’s what the former JMU quarterback was able to do and what he’ll bring to the Knights next season.
Alonza Barnett III’s JMU Numbers and Announcement
Barnett III is heading to the University of Central Florida, coming off an impressive bounce-back story of perseverance and the ability to show resilience. Barnett had some impressive numbers in Harrisonburg during his time with the Dukes.
Barnett III accounted for 6,435 total yards and 71 total touchdowns in two seasons as the starter in Harrisonburg. But the stats don’t tell the full story, as he was benched in his first season in Harrisonburg for 2023 Sun Belt Player of the Year Jordan McCloud, and was able to overcome that to have a strong 2024 campaign until he tore his ACL in the last game of that campaign.
Barnett III would go on to win the 2025 Sun Belt Player of the Year award during the Dukes‘ historic 2025 season, where the program saw its first Sun Belt Conference Championship and CFP Appearance.
What Barnett III is going to bring to UCF
The former JMU quarterback is going to bring a great duel-threat attack that will make a lot of people go wow on the field. His arm was one of the best in the Sun Belt last season, as he was one of the leaders in passing in the conference, while also rushing for 589 yards on the season. The Duel threat is going to provide a lot of options for a talented UCF program that is looking to get some of the shine back from their late 2010s run, which included that undefeated season a while back.
The quarterback market in the portal is huge this season, and the former Dukes quarterback was one of the top options from the Group of 5 conferences. And UCF has gotten a great quarterback who will raise their ceiling for the 2026 season. It will be interesting to see how the program fulfills the rest of the team through the portal this offseason to go along with Barnett.
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