Male Athlete of the Year

After a collegiate career that saw school records fall, the resurrection of the… After a collegiate career that saw school records fall, the resurrection of the basketball program and the school’s first ever men’s basketball Big East Championship, Brandin Knight has added yet another feather to his cap: The Pitt News Male Athlete of the Year Award.

This season, Knight anchored a seasoned Pitt team that reached as high as No. 2 in the polls en route to its second straight NCAA Tournament berth, as well as its second straight appearance in the Sweet Sixteen.

Knight said, however, that his favorite moment of the season, as well as of his career at Pitt, came when the Panthers won their first ever Big East Tournament Championship.

“We had been there the previous two years and we hadn’t accomplished it,” Knight said. “This year, we finally took that big step in winning it. That’s my best memory.”

Despite lingering injuries which he said bothered him “pretty much the entire season,” Knight battled through the pain all year long to average 11.2 points, 6.2 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. Two weeks ago, he was selected as one of the 10 players chosen to the John R. Wooden All-America team.

“My thing was to just try to play the best I possibly could. If things didn’t fall the way I wanted them to statistically, then that wasn’t that big a deal for me,” Knight said regarding his early season scoring troubles.

Teammate Julius Page recalls the Panthers’ 82-67 victory at Georgetown as one of the greatest games he’s seen Knight play.

“That was one of the games that Brandin took over,” Page said, “The way he stepped up, being a little injured and beat up, and the way he picked us up emotionally when we [were] down, [made] it one of the biggest games of his career.”

Despite what was widely viewed as a drop off in scoring from his junior year, Knight’s 370 points this season match exactly his total from last season.

Knight further left his mark on Pitt basketball history when he gained sole possession of the school records for both assists and steals.

He also finished his career in 11th place on the school’s all-time scoring list.

Knight, a 6-foot-tall guard who was originally recruited by former Pitt head coach Ralph Willard, will graduate this summer after leading the Panthers to an 89-40 record during the last four years, their most successful four consecutive seasons in school history.

The trademarks of Knight’s game are his fancy yet coordinated no-look and alley-oop passes, which Page says he will miss.

“Carl [Krauser] can throw alley-oops too, but the connection we had being backcourt mates for three years now, I’m definitely going to miss him,” Page said. “[Knight] is one of the best players to ever play here.”

After graduating, Knight will attempt to join his brother, former Stanford Cardinal and current Memphis Grizzly Brevin, as he attempts to break into the ranks of the National Basketball Association when it holds its amateur draft at the end of the postseason.

“It’s something I’ve got to wait for and see which opportunities or what teams best fit me, and see what teams might want me,” Knight said.

Still, one question remains regarding Knight’s career at Pitt. Will the University make his No. 20 the fifth retired jersey in school history?

“I don’t know,” Knight said, “but if they did, I’d be honored.”