Brandon Knight

CHICAGO - On the court, Andrew Harrison is an intense competitor - a Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Deandre Liggins type. Off the court, he's just as intense and not afraid to voice his opinion. Not only did the future Kentucky point guard say that he though the McDonald's All-American Game - he had 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting,  four assists, two rebounds and one steal in 18 minutes in Wednesday's game here - was a more prestigious event than the upcoming Jordan Brand Classic, but he's already tossing verbal barbs at Louisville.  He admitted he had picked Louisville to reach the Final Four, but then told media members, "I hope Michigan wins (the national title)

LEXINGTON — Kentucky freshman guard Brandon Knight had 24 points and seven assists in Tuesday’s win over Mississippi State and is now averaging 17.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 41.8 percent from 3-point range. He’s had a UK freshman record 11 20-point games this season and has scored in double figures 20 straight games. Here are some thoughts the Kentucky guard shared after UK’s win over Mississippi State: Have you had any problems at all adjusting to the speed of the college game?

HOUSTON - Since he tried to recruit Brandon Knight to play for him, Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun knows plenty about the Kentucky freshman point guard. “Brandon is as good a freshman as there is in the country,” said Calhoun. “Brandon is one of the most cerebral players I have seen in his focus. “Brandon is not the best athlete at point guard here. But he is tough, focused and found out what he did well. We recruited him for four years. He’s one of the best in the country and is getting better all the time.” Calhoun will see even more of Knight on Saturday night when UK and Connecticut play in the Final Four here for a berth in Monday’s national championship game against either Butler or VCU. Knight is averaging 17.3 points per game — and has a Kentucky freshman record 640 points — and has a team-high 154 assists.

WINCHESTER — The students at Conkwright Middle School had one request for Brandon Knight during his brief visit to Winchester Thursday afternoon. The students chanted “one more year” as Knight was introduced and took part in a question and answer session with Conkwright principal Travis Earlywine. Knight smiled at the chant and indicated that he’s still undecided on whether or not he will return next season for his sophomore campaign. “I’m still 50-50,” he said. “I haven’t really made a decision yet.” As for coming back to Kentucky, Knight said he “wouldn’t mind it” and would embrace another opportunity to play for the Wildcats for one more season.

LEXINGTON — She’s moved to Lexington and taken a job so she can be closer to her son, but Tonya Knight says she wishes there was a way she could do something for so many gracious University of Kentucky fans she has met. Her son, Brandon, is the starting point guard at Kentucky and one of the nation’s elite freshman players. “I go to certain restaurants and places and people even know me,” she said. “It doesn’t bother me. I love the UK fans.

She had so many stories and so much information to consider, Tonya Knight thought there was only one approach to take to her book about her son, Brandon Knight, and his journey from a basketball beginner to a NBA first-round draft pick following his freshman year at Kentucky. “I just went with my gut instinct. I didn't want to take potshots at anybody,” said Knight. “I am very happy with the book. It will give people a little glimpse into our lives. There's even a surprise picture that Brandon knows nothing about.

Because he has played with and against Brandon Knight, it was no surprise to Kenny Boynton that the Kentucky freshman has played so well this year. “Brandon has been playing well all his life. I think I expected success out of him because he’s such a hard worker. He was that way in high school even,” said Boynton, a sophomore guard at Florida. Both players from Florida are now headed for the NCAA Sweet Sixteen after both Kentucky and Florida won two NCAA games in Tampa, Fla., last week.

Sporting News college basketball columnist Mike DeCourcy sees the nation’s top teams play all season and has also covered coach John Calipari’s teams at Massachusetts, Memphis and Kentucky. Here are a few thoughts DeCourcy — and you can find his work at http://www.sportingnewstoday.com — shared about the Wildcats: Question: Who is the best player on Kentucky's team this year? DeCourcy: “The player who has impressed me the most in the times I've seen UK is Brandon Knight.

LEXINGTON — Kentucky freshman guard Brandon Knight had 24 points and seven assists in Tuesday’s win over Mississippi State and is now averaging 17.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 41.8 percent from 3-point range. He’s had a UK freshman record 11 20-point games this season and has scored in double figures 20 straight games. Here are some thoughts he shared after UK’s win over Mississippi State: Question: Have you had any problems at all adjusting to the speed of the college game?

While Kentucky fans might be speculating on whether Brandon Knight is or is not ready for the NBA, apparently Knight and his family are not even contemplating that scenario right now. “We always tell him that what may or may not go on next year should not be his focus right now. What happens next year is next year,” said Tonya Knight, the UK freshman’s mother. “His focus is on this team and this season.” Knight’s mother knows there has been speculation that her son could be a first-round draft pick if he puts his name into the draft.

Kentucky coach John Calipari said he gave freshman Archie Goodwin  "the information, what was out there, what we were told" before Goodwin put his name into the NBA draft. "We sat down and talked to him and he came back and said he wanted to put his name in the draft and we said, 'Great, let's go for it,'" Calipari said Wednesday. "I'm not going to sit here and give you everything I said or my opinion because I don't think, it's fair but they get everything they need and whatever decision they make - I've been on the phone right now with probably five or six NBA teams about Archie.

CHICAGO - On the court, Andrew Harrison is an intense competitor - a Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Deandre Liggins type. Off the court, he's just as intense and not afraid to voice his opinion. Not only did the future Kentucky point guard say that he though the McDonald's All-American Game - he had 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting,  four assists, two rebounds and one steal in 18 minutes in Wednesday's game here - was a more prestigious event than the upcoming Jordan Brand Classic, but he's already tossing verbal barbs at Louisville.  He admitted he had picked Louisville to reach the Final Four, but then told media members, "I hope Michigan wins (the national title)

MOON, Pa. - Three Kentucky freshmen who have been projected at times as possible NBA draft lottery picks all indicated they are learning to coming back for their sophomore seasons. Kentucky lost 59-57 to Robert Morris in an NIT first-round game Tuesday, and Archie Goodwin, Alex Poythress and Willie Cauley-Stein will not have long to decide what they want to do about next season. However, Goodwin made it clear he thought he would be back. “I don't know if it's a question whether I'm going (to the NBA)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - He had a towel draped over his head and tears streaming down both cheeks as he proclaimed he was the reason Kentucky's NCAA tournament hopes may have disappeared. Sophomore point guard Ryan Harrow wasn't the only reason UK lost 64-48 to Vanderbilt on Friday night in the Southeastern Conference tournament, but he certainly had a game to forget. He was 2-for-15 from the field - and almost all the shots were in the paint. He had four turnovers and just one assist - and often got beat on defense, too. “This loss is just on me,” Harrow said.

Is there a chance that this Kentucky basketball team simply is not tough enough overall to be a Final Four contender? “It's hard to say if a team is soft as a unit,” Fox Sports college basketball analyst Larry Conley said. “I think they have guys that play with skills. Their skills actually are pretty solid. Are they mean and nasty? No, as a team they are not but that does not mean they can not go out and win games. I've seen a lot of teams do that. “It's always nice to have one or two guys like that (mean and nasty)

LEXINGTON - If there is one thing that seems to be irritating Kentucky coach John Calipari more than anything else about this year's team, it would be the lack of commitment to individual workouts by the players on their own. Last year Michael Kidd-Gilchrist seemed to always be working out in the gym on his own and took other players with him. Two years ago it was Brandon Knight and then Josh Harrellson who both spent a lot of extra time in the...

LEXINGTON - If there is one thing that seems to be irritating Kentucky coach John Calipari more than anything else about this year's team it would be the lack of commitment to individual workouts by the players on their own. Last year Michael Kidd-Gilchrist seemed to always be working out in the gym on his own and took other players with him. Two years ago it was Brandon Knight and then Josh Harrellson who both spent a lot of extra time in the gym....

LEXINGTON - Maybe he was only trying to motivate his team as he insisted after the game. Or maybe, just maybe, Samford coach Ben Seltzer was just saying what other coaches and opposing players might be thinking. Early in the first half of Tuesday's eventual 88-56 loss to unranked Kentucky, Seltzer was overheard by a media member telling his team this was the “worst Kentucky team ever” even as the Wildcats were building a huge lead. Kentucky was coming off back-to-back losses that dropped the Cats from No. 8 in the Associated Press rankings to being unranked - the biggest one-week fall in the AP top 25 ever.

While others were trying to decipher all the factors that might determine where Andrew and Aaron Harrison would play their college basketball, the Texas twins apparently were not worried about ties with shoe companies, family ties and long-time connections with any coach. Instead, the twins picked Kentucky over Maryland where they have family living, have known coach Mark Turgeon since his Texas Tech coaching days and have ties to Maryland sponsor UnderArmor through their AAU¿play. And what made them pick Kentucky?

It was never a given that he would attend Kentucky, but Archie Goodwin admits it was “highly likely” because of what he knew about coach John Calipari when the coach was at Memphis. “When I¿finally got the offer from him, that was the offer I was excited about. It wasn't something to where I was just going to automatically commit, because you never know what could happen, but there was more of a chance of me coming here than any other school once I got the offer,” said Goodwin, a highly-touted freshman guard from Arkansas.