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Welcome to UCF Knights on SI's countdown to kickoff! In this series, we are going to introduce you to every single player on the 2026 UCF football roster so that you can know what to expect from them or even pinpoint the ones you want to follow throughout the coming season.
We are going to go through the Knights' roster in reverse jersey-number order, with the day each player's entry is published corresponding to the number of days remaining until UCF's season-opener on Sep.
3 at 7 p.m.
against Bethune-Cookman.
This entry, however, will deviate a bit from that formula.
While there are no players on UCF's roster wearing jersey numbers 59 and 60, as of July 5, new players have been added to the roster who have received jersey numbers we have already passed along in our countdown.
So, with this spare time until No.
58 Connor Meadows's entry on July 7, let's take a moment to meet UCF's newest offensive lineman, Daniel Marcellinus: 1.
Who is Daniel Marcellinus? Position: Offensive Lineman Class: Redshirt Freshman Height/Weight: 6-foot-11 / 275 pounds Hometown: Albia State, Nigeria High School: Hoosac School Daniel Marcellinus moved to the United States from Nigeria at the age of 16 and started out playing basketball.
During his high school career, he played for Prolific Prep in California and Roselle Catholic in New Jersey before finishing at Hoosac School in Upstate New York.
2.
What did he do last season? Marcellinus played in just two games for Campbell in early November during the 2025-26 season before getting sidelined for the rest of it with what the program said was "a serious health issue" in a New Year's Eve post to social media.
This allowed him to use a medical redshirt and preserve his four years of eligibility as he begins his football career.
3.
What role is he going to have in 2026? This is not the first time UCF has converted a former college basketball player into an offensive lineman, with Dominick Campbell doing so after transferring in from Howard last offseason.
While Marcellinus, at 275 pounds, is lighter than Campbell's 310 pounds, the Nigerian is two inches taller at 6-foot-11, making him the tallest player on the team, and has four years of eligibility to work with.
Campbell only had two, with the 2026 season set to be his second.
Considering Campbell did not see the field in 2025 in his first season of college football, it seems the likeliest Marcellinus is going to take a similar path as he learns the game and fully transitions from a basketball player to a football player.
However, with Campbell, who made the transition last season, there to help him through the process and the freedom to develop over a longer period of time, Marcellinus could develop into quite the presence for the Knights up front in the future.
Catch up on the rest of the list below: Bryson Turner is a sports journalist who covers UCF Athletics.
Turner has contributed to the Black and Gold Banneret, the home for UCF Athletics on SB Nation.
He has called the Orlando area home since the age of 8 and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from UCF.
Follow itsBrysonTurner.