One day after Brandin Knight officially joined the Rutgers basketball team as an assistant coach, the staff made a statement on the recruiting trail and handed out several scholarship offers.
On Tuesday, the entire Rutgers staff — including head coach Steve Pikiell, associate head coach Karl Hobbs, assistant Jay Young and Knight — went four deep at St. Patrick’s for an open gym. The previous Rutgers coaching staff had not ventured into St. Pat’s much. The staff also went four deep later Tuesday at Roselle Catholic, where they have already landed a pledge from senior guard Matt Bullock and are targeting a number of talented young players, including 2018 forward Naz Reid.
Pikiell and his staff extended offers to Reid at RC and to Bul Ajang and Nick Richards at St. Pat’s, and plan to offer the Sports U Fab Five of Reid, Jahvon Quinerly, Luther Muhammad, Atiba Taylor and Louis King, a source told SNY.tv.
“Brandin and I have a very good relationship,” Sports U coach Brian Coleman told SNY.tv. “I know he will look out for the kids and take good care of them. I think it will help Rutgers get involved with our kids.”
“Brandin will help because a lot of the current high school and AAU coaches know him in this area and respect him,” St. Pat’s coach Chris Chavannes said Tuesday. “He brings instant credibility. It was great having the entire Rutgers staff here [Tuesday]. The kids were very receptive to them.”
“Brandin is a coach who knows the area and has recruited this area for a number of years,” Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff, whose team has won two of the last four New Jersey Tournament of Champions titles, told SNY.tv. “I think he’ll help Rutgers recruiting for sure. “
An East Orange, N.J., native and Seton Hall Prep alumnus, Knight joined Rutgers from Pittsburgh, where he also served as an assistant coach. He opted not to remain after Kevin Stallings was hired to replace Jamie Dixon.
The Panthers compiled a 252-101 (.714) record and reached the postseason all 10 seasons with Knight on staff. Pitt won the 2008 Big East Championship, earned two NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds (2009 & 2011) and captured the 2011 Big East regular season title.
At Pitt, Knight also served the 2007-08 and 2006-07 seasons as Director of Men’s Basketball Operations and Program Assistant/Video Coordinator, respectively.
“I am thrilled to welcome Brandin to the Rutgers basketball family,” Pikiell said in a statement. “He is one of the premier young coaches in the country. Brandin has developed an excellent reputation as a high-level recruiter and a tremendous teacher of the game. He brings a passion and expertise in developing players that will be infectious to our program.”
Said Knight: “The opportunity to join a Big Ten staff in my home state under the leadership of Coach Pikiell is very exciting. I can’t wait to help bring winning back to Rutgers.”
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