Season preview: Pitt assistant coach Brandin Knight

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It is always nice to have an assistant coach whose retired jersey is hanging in the rafters of your own arena.  Brandin Knight has spent almost a decade on Coach Jamie Dixon’s staff, and before that he spent 4 years as a player for Coach Dixon that resulted in a pair of trips to the Sweet 16.  He was the 2002 Big East co-POY and still holds the school record for career AST/STL.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Knight about winning a CBI title and having an All-American brother.

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You played for Coach Jamie Dixon and now work as 1 of his assistants: what makes him such a great coach, and what is the most important thing that you ever learned from him? His attention to detail in every aspect of the job.  He is very organized at game-planning, office stuff, etc.

In the 2002 NCAA tourney you scored 18 PTS in a 5-PT OT loss to Kent State: could you have ever imagined that Antonio Gates (22 PTS) would later become 1 of the best tight ends in NFL history?! Gates was very hard to guard: he was so physical and relentless at getting to the rim. The best football players are often former basketball players, especially at the skill positions like RB/WR. He had great hands and great ball skills, which were great tools that translated to the football field.

In 2002 you were named Big East co-POY and you remain the school’s leader in career AST/STL: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor, and what is your secret for being a great PG? My most favorite award was for the Most Improved Player because I went from someone who was “not good enough” to 1 of the best players in the league. As a PG you have to be an extension of your coach and command the attention of the defense whether you are a scorer or passer. You have to understand time/score/possession.

In the 2003 NCAA tourney you had 16 PTS/11 AST in a 3-PT loss to Marquette: where does Dwyane Wade rank among the best college players you have ever seen? He is probably #1. We played Carmelo Anthony twice that year but Dwyane was so hard to guard because he has always been able to make tough shots.

In the 2012 CBI title game, MVP Lamar Patterson scored 14 PTS in a 6-PT win over Washington State: what did it mean to you to win a title? We had a rocky season but it helped give us confidence going into the next year and allowed Lamar to emerge as our team leader.

You and your older brother Brevin are 1 of only a handful of brothers in D-1 basketball history to each be named All-American (joining Jim/John Paxson, Harvey/Horace Grant, etc.): how proud are you of your brother’s success? I am very proud of the both of us, especially because neither of us was highly regarded coming out of high school. Our college coaches took chances on us when our biggest offers were from schools like Penn/Princeton. Brevin played a huge part in Stanford’s turnaround, just like I played a big part in Pitt’s turnaround.

In the 2015 NIT you had a 6-PT loss to GW: what do you think your team learned from that game that can help them this year? Our maturity level has grown a bit. We had sophomores playing a majority of our minutes last year and now they know that every possession matters. Nothing is given to you: you need the will to win. Losing on our home floor in the NIT was tough to swallow and we lost too many home games last year, so we have to bring it every night on every possession.

You have several transfer players on your roster: what is the key to integrating players from other schools into your own system? Since they are older kids with good attitudes it has made our jobs easier. We have to break down some old habits both good and bad, but they were all good players in their own right. Now we have to bring them up to speed on how we do things: it has been a good transition.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? We want to win championships. We need to prepare to be the best team in the country. I like to win and I hope I am getting the message across that we have to do whatever it takes. We have to be special every day, which will help us have a special year

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