Former Stanford star Brevin Knight will be one of eight athletes who will be inducted in Stanford's Athletics Hall of Fame in November.
All eight will be formally inducted on Nov. 5 and will be honored at halftime of Stanford's Nov. 6 home football game against Arizona.
Besides Knight, the inductees are John Lynch (football), Rick Lundblade ’85 (baseball), Liliah Osterloh ‘00 (tennis), Tracye Lawyer ’99 (track and field, soccer), Mike Lambert ’96 (men’s volleyball), Catherine Fox ’00 (swimming and diving) and Nick Bravin ’93 (fencing).
Knight may have been the pivotal player in transforming Stanford from a mediocre program to one that was a national powerhouse for a decade under Mike Montgomery. Some consider Todd Lichti the most important recruit in Stanford history, but in the opinion of examiner.com, it was Knight, for a variety of subtle reasons.
Knight was lightly recruited out of high school in New Jersey. In fact, Manhattan was the only Division I school besides Stanford that offered him a scholarship. And even Stanford did not sign him until the spring signing period.
He became a starter in the opening game of his freshman season, and initated the attitude that would identify Stanford basketball for years. His best game may have been a loss. He almost single-handedly beat Utah in a third-round game of the NCAA Tournament, beating current NBA player Andre Miller time and time again off the drible to create offensive opportunities. Knight hit a shot in the closing seconds to send the game into overtime, but the Cardinal eventually lost to Utah, which wound up as the national runnerup that season.
Knight was such a deft ballhandler that no team tried to press the Cardinal when he was on the floor. When an Arizona State player was asked why the Sun Devils chose not to press Stanford after pressing Cal so effectively two days later, he gave a two-word answer: "Brevin Knight."
Knight was named the first-team point guard on the alltime Stanford basketball team picked by examiner.com last spring.
See also:
Jayne Appel named to U.S. National team for World Championships
The Pac-10 will be Pac-12 next year, as Colorado will be added in 2011
To receive Stanford basketball news regularly, click the "subscribe" button above the headline. It's free.
Comments