Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/109499
K By Wes Morgan arl and Kathy Knight love their son, take great pride in his accomplishments and do their best to follow his college career at Notre Dame. The reality is, however, senior forward Tom Knight is the third of five children, two of whom still live at home in Dixfield, Maine, and compete in prep sports. With Knight's duties consisting mostly of the custodial variety for the Fighting Irish up until recently, as well as the 1,060 miles between South Bend, Ind., and his hometown in the northeast corner of the country, it was understood his folks wouldn't get to too many games. And their younger kids' activities might even prevent them from catching Notre Dame in action on television. So when Knight found out he was to start Jan. 26 on the road at South Florida — his first start of the year and fourth of his career — he made sure to let his father know, albeit somewhat cryptically, the noon tipoff in Tampa was worth tuning in to. "I wasn't even sure if my parents were [going to watch] the game," said the 6-10, 258-pounder, who was Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey's choice to replace injured sixth-year senior swingman Scott Martin (knee) in the lineup. "We got on the bus at 10 a.m., I texted my parents: 'By the way, our game's at noon.' My dad's like, 'What channel?' I said, 'It's on ESPN3; you should watch it.' That's all I told him. I turned my phone on after the game and he texted me, 'Wow.'" That was likely everyone's reaction other than those in the Irish locker room after Knight posted a career-high 17 points and a career-best seven rebounds in a much-needed 73-65 victory over the Bulls. Knight redshirted in 2009-10, and averaged 1.4 points and 1.1 rebounds in 3.8 minutes per game as a sophomore in 2010-11. Last season, he contributed 2.9 points and 1.5 rebounds in 8.9 minutes per contest, which included three starts (Maryland, Maine and Dartmouth). The South Florida contest marked his first start in a league game, and he connected on 8 of 10 attempts from the floor. Notre Dame followed up the win in the Sunshine State with victories over Villanova (65-60) Jan. 30 and at DePaul (79-71 in OT) Feb. 1 before falling at Syracuse (63-47) Feb. 4. In the process, the Irish upgraded to stable status with an 18-5 overall record and 6-4 mark in a Big East Conference that was suddenly up for grabs. In his first three contests in the starting lineup, Knight averaged 31.7 minutes, 11.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 57.7 percent (15 of 26) from the field. Against the Orange, however, he managed just two points on 1-of-8 shooting while grabbing three rebounds. He added five points, five rebounds, a block and two assists in an epic fiveovertime victory (104-101) over No. 11 Louisville in South Bend on Feb. 9. "You know what happens sometimes with a nucleus that plays a lot together, they can get stale," Brey said of his other four starters that were used to playing alongside a veteran Martin, who is sidelined indefinitely.