Knight Has an Expanded Role

Swingman Billy Knight has gone from a redshirt season to a prominent role, having already started one game and played 15 minutes in the other while being counted on as a three-point threat for all of 1999-2000.

The Bruins want his shooting skills to be a deterrent to zone defenses and opponents that pack the inside to stop Dan Gadzuric and Jerome Moiso, a role Brandon Loyd played last season as a senior. But Knight, a sophomore from Westchester High, inherits the position after taking all of 1998-99 off because of a groin injury, after making a solid 38.7% of his shots from behind the arc as a freshman.

“I think it helped me out a lot,” Knight said of his season on the sideline. “It helped me become a student of the game, instead of just playing it. I learned a lot about the game by watching it from the bench.”

And coming back to what could be a major role?

“That’s what I want to hear,” he said. “I’m a shooter. You want the green light.”

Knight has made only two of eight three-point shots in the first two games and five of 15 overall. He started in the opener against Fairfield, then came off the bench against Iona.