Connecticut Recruiting, Matt Whitfield, Syracuse Recruiting

CATCHING UP WITH BRANDON KNIGHT

Elite 2010 point guard prospect talks hoops at NBA Top 100 camp

by MATT WHITFIELD

Blake Griffin was the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. However, had the draft been open to Kentucky bound point guard John Wall, some felt Wall would have entered the conversation of being the #1 overall pick.

Wall, who despite his recent skirmish with the law, is headed to Kentucky, which is poised to become the new top NBA breeding ground, for his expected one season of college ball. Often compared to Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose for his blazing handle and court vision, Wall may very well turn out to be as good of a point guard once he’s in the NBA. However, a point guard by the name of Brandon Knight has the chance to eclipse Wall and Rose in the future with his basketball potential.

Knight, who is entering his senior year, is the reigning Mr. Basketball winner in the state of Florida and this year’s past Gatorade High School Basketball Player of the year. He stopped to chat with NBE recently at NBA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville.

In all probability many high schools students don’t fully understand how the media works and operates at such a young age. However, when you’re Brandon Knight and you are made a celebrity even before your senior year you receive a full crash course lesson on it.

“It’s not too special, you get a lot of eyes and a lot of people expecting a lot of high things, but I’m the same as everybody else I just try and work hard,” stated the chiseled 6-foot-3, 185-pound Knight.

Knight certainly does have a lot of eyes and attention on him. He joined Lebron James and Greg Oden this year, as only the third junior ever to win the Gatorade High School Player Of The Year Award. On top of that he was also named Florida’s Mr. Basketball this year and has been the driving force behind Pine Crest High School’s two state championship winning teams the past two seasons.

“It was a great season. We had a lot of tough games and we were able to get a lot of tough wins, so it feels great to win [a second consecutive state championship],” stated Knight on this past season.

With all of Knight’s accolades on the court it must be tough for him to keep far away from college coaches and recruiters as well. When talking to NBE, Knight was somewhat mum on the whole recruitment process saying he had no favorites and has not visited any schools thus far, nor had plans on any specific visits in the future either.

“I’m not really sure. My dad really talks to most of the coaches. I’m pretty sure Duke, Florida, Miami, Kentucky, and Kansas, schools like that [are involved],” stated Knight.

From the Big East, sources indicate that Syracuse and Connecticut continue to be in the mix as well.

However, Knight also indicated to NBE that he’s still at square one in the recruitment process.

“I [still] haven’t made a list or anything,” stated Knight.

Knight, however did state the three biggest things he was looking for in the recruitment process.

“A good relationship with the coach, liking the area, and just trying to make the [college] decision that will put me to the next level,” said Knight.

For now Knight wants to work on a few things for the upcoming season before he gets to college.

“Being more of a leader, working on my Point Guard skills, and getting my teammates more involved,” Knight told NBE.

Knight also stated to NBE what he thought to be his biggest upside and downside.

“Biggest upside is being able to put the ball in the basketball, [and] biggest downside [is] boxing out,” stated Knight.

For now despite awards and accolades, Knight wants to keep pushing and bettering his game.

“You don’t want to let people down, so when you get put in that group you got to continue to work for success and not just start to be like yea I won that award, [as] it doesn’t really matter it’s in the past now,” he said.

Despite his ability on the court now and talk on websites like nbadrat.net that Knight will be a lottery pick, Knight is still just a clean shaven high school student not even in his senior year yet. Knight, who told NBE he goes by the nicknames of ‘buckets’, ‘BK’, and ‘B Knight’ will have a lot of eyes on him in the coming years, but with a NBA-ready body already and a blazing handle and superior speed and athleticism, Knight should be something real special to watch in the coming years.

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