THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 8, 1995 TAG: 9501060204
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 21 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, SUN SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
The Lakeland Cavaliers are a talkative bunch, both on the court and on the bench. All except for one player, that is.
Herman Knight responds with a nod when coach John Fuller or one of his teammates barks a command at him.
On the bench, he is acutely aware of everything going on on the court, but he offers a high five to his teammates and little else.
Knight doesn't like to talk at all, and, when he does, you will have to struggle to get more than a few words out of him.
But that seems to make the 6-1 freshman the perfect player to hang out under the basket and wait for one of his fellow Cavaliers to get him the ball.
Sebastian Yates grabbed the rebound and dished off to James Pruden who quickly sent the ball in to Knight who banked it in for the score before the opposition had even gotten into the paint to try to defend themselves.
That is the way things went much of the night for the Cavaliers in the consolation final of the Lakeland Christmas tournament.
Knight, who leads the team in rebounds with 56, totaled 13 points in that game, grabbed 16 rebounds in the first-round game and earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
All of that will elicit a pretty big smile from Knight, but not much more.
You are hard-pressed not to find a smile on Knight's face, especially as he takes the court for the opening tip. He is having a lot of fun ``most games,'' Knight said.
``He doesn't talk at all,'' Fuller said. ``Nobody in the family says much.''
Knight's sister, Hope, paced the Lakeland girls basketball team into the state tournament.
``We play together sometimes,'' Knight said of his sister. ``We help each other. She helps me with my defense.''
Like Hope, Herman does most of his talking with actions and not words.
``He is one of the hardest workers we have,'' Fuller said. ``Herman is a garbage man. He just gets the loose balls and plays good defense.''
Knight didn't have any idea that he was going to be starting this year until a couple of weeks before the first game.
``I was really surprised,'' Knight said.
Knight admitted he was nervous for the first few games, but now he feels comfortable knowing ``if I don't know where to go or what to do (teammates) will tell me where to go.''
With solid unified play critical to Lakeland's success, Fuller's only concern was how well Knight would mesh into the lineup.
``He's going to have ups and downs,'' Fuller said. ``As a freshman, that's expected. The concern was how well he would blend with the other players, and he has done that very well.''
Knight is called upon more to rebound than score, and there are nights when his little bank shot won't fall, like last week against Southampton, but the one area Knight thinks needs the most improving is ``my free throws. I need to work on that,'' Knight said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Herman Knight keeps his eye on the ball as he chases it down the
court during a Bay Rivers clash with Southampton. Knight, who leads
the team in rebounds with 56, earned a spot on the all-tournament
team.
by CNB