Brandon Knight

Knight with the Pistons
No. 7 – Detroit Pistons
Point guard / Shooting guard
Personal information
Born	(1991-12-02) December 2, 1991 (age 21) Miami, Florida
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	189 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school	Pine Crest (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
College	Kentucky (2010–2011)
NBA Draft	2011 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8th overall
Selected by the Detroit Pistons
Pro career	2011–present
League	National Basketball Association
Career history
2011–present	Detroit Pistons
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2012) 2× NBA Rising Star (2012–2013) 2× Gatorade National Player of the Year (2009–2010) 2× Florida Mr. Basketball (2009–2010)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Brandon Knight (born December 2, 1991) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Knight won the 2009 and 2010 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year Awards. He became the third junior to receive the award following LeBron James (2002) and Greg Oden (2005).^[1]

High school career

Knight graduated from Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Knight was recognized in 2009 and again in 2010 as the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year as a junior and senior. Knight was the first student-athlete from the state of Florida to win Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year honors.^[2] A national advisory board was composed of sportswriters and sport-specific experts from around the US. This board selected Knight from more than 552,000 high school boys basketball players nationwide. Knight maintained a 4.3 grade-point average.^[3]

In his junior year, he led the Panthers to their second consecutive Class 3A state title. He averaged 31.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists and three steals per game during the season. Knight scored 27 points, pulled down nine rebounds and dished four assists in a 60–44 win over Jones High in the state final. He beat his own school single-season record by more than 200 points, finishing with 968 points. He also set a school record with 127 three-pointers. These accomplishments contributed to Knight being named the 2009 Florida Mr. Basketball.

Knight is second all time on the scoring list for high school basketball in Florida, amassing a staggering 3,515 points from 2005–2010. If not for missing 19 games his junior season, Knight might have been first on the scoring list.

On March 4, 2010, Knight played his last high school basketball game. After injuring his groin in the state semi-finals, he led Pine Crest to the championship game seeking a third consecutive Class 3A state title, but lost 70–46 to Rickards High School of Tallahassee.^[4]

Knight played in the 2010 McDonald's All-American Game in Columbus and hit the game winning 3 point basket to give the West a 107–104 victory. Also, he played in the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit in Portland and in 2010 Jordan Brand Classic in New York.^[5]

AAU

Knight also had a lot of success on the AAU circuit. As a sophomore, Brandon's Team Breakdown won the Junior Division National Championship, which is the most competitive division in AAU.^{[citation needed]} The following year, Knight formed a dominating backcourt with current Florida guard Kenny Boynton, Raymond Taylor and Team Breakdown defended their title easily. Once Boynton graduated, Knight switched to Team STAT/Each One Teach One during 2009, joining Austin Rivers in the backcourt. Knight broke his foot in mid July during a game at the Nike Peach Jam Tournament and took the rest of the summer off to rest his foot.^[6]

College recruiting

Knight was ranked as the No. 4 recruit in the class of 2010 in the ESPNU 100, and the No. 6 recruit by Rivals.com and Scout.com.

Knight considered Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, and Syracuse. He had in-home visits with Kansas, Kentucky, and UConn.^[7] Knight had also taken official campus visits to Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, and Miami.^[8]

On April 14, 2010, Knight signed an aid agreement with the University of Kentucky, not a letter of intent. Amid rumors that Kentucky coach John Calipari would jump to coach in the NBA, Knight's parents advised him to sign an aid agreement. An aid agreement is different from a letter of intent in that the aid agreement is only a one way commitment: Kentucky committed to give him one scholarship year, while he could have transferred without any repercussions from the NCAA. By signing an aid agreement, the Wildcats were committed to Knight, but he was not committed to them.^[9]

Kentucky

In his UK debut, Knight had 31 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 0 turnovers. Knight led Kentucky to a 95–62 win in an exhibition game in Canada over the Windsor Lancers.^[10] Knight had 17 points and 5 assists in his Kentucky debut.^[11] In 14 games completed, Knight led all freshmen in the nation in scoring, averaging 18.3 ppg on 47% from the field and 40% from the 3-point line. He also averaged 33 minutes a game, with 4 assists and 3 rebounds per game. Impressively, Knight won SEC freshman of the week three times.^[12] In January Knight was one of 20 players selected as a finalist for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award, given to the year's best point guard in college basketball.^[13] He was picked for the Fifth Team All-America by Fox Sports.^[14] He led his team to an SEC championship victory and then went on to advance to the Final Four.

College statistics

Professional career

Knight left Kentucky after his freshman season to enter the 2011 NBA Draft. On June 23, 2011 Knight was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 8th overall pick in the draft.^[15]

On February 8, 2012, Knight was selected to play in the 2012 Rising Stars competition; he was drafted to play for Team Shaq.

On February 27, 2013, Knight scored a career high 32 points to secure a win against the Washington Wizards.^[16]

Knight participated in the 2013 NBA All Star Weekend's Rising Stars Game.^[17] He scored 10 points and recorded 6 assists.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Awards and honors

• 2011 SEC Freshman of the Week (1/3/11)^[12]
• 2010 SEC Freshman of the Week (12/27/10)^[12]
• 2010 SEC Freshman of the Week (11/13/10)^[12]
• 2010 McDonald's All-American team selection
• 2010 Jordan Brand High School All-American team selection
• 2010 Gatorade National Basketball Player of the Year^[18]
• 2009 Gatorade National Basketball Player of the Year^[19]
• 2009 Gatorade Player of the Year Florida^[20]
• 2009 Florida Mr. Basketball
• 2009 First Team All-State selection

• Nominee, Gatorade Male High School Athlete of the Year Award
• Panhandle Sports Broadcasting 2009 Class 3A Tournament MVP^[21]
• Pine Crest school records:
  • Career points (3,515)
  • Single-season points (968)
  • Points in a game (55)
  • Career assists (594)
  • Single-game assists (16)
  • Career 3-pointers (259)
  • Single-season 3-pointers (127)
  • Single-season free throw percentage (81)

Personal life

Knight is the son of Efrem and Tonya Knight.^[22]

References

External links

• Kentucky Bio
• NBADraft.net Profile
• Rivals.com Profile
• Scout.com Profile