Brandin Knight made the move from his hometown to Pitt’s Oakland campus to embark on a career that would eventually land the East Orange, N.J., native as one of the most celebrated men’s basketball players in Panthers history.
Nearly two decades later, Knight has helped plant the seeds for Pittsburgh to return the favor to the Garden State.
Tariq Francis — a Pittsburgh native who won a City League title with Obama Academy in 2020 before transferring to First Love Christian Academy in Washington County for his final three years of high school — is in the middle of a sensational freshman season at New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark.
A 6-foot, 180-pound guard, Francis is averaging a team-high 14.3 points per game for the Highlanders. He was named America East Conference Player of the Week for the first time last week after scoring a career-high 31 points in the Highlanders’ win against Vermont and 26 in a victory against UMass Lowell.
“It’s been fun getting to experience this,” said Francis, who has been named the NCAA Division I conference’s freshman of the week seven times this season. “I’m gaining knowledge, learning from the older guys, learning from the coaches and just being put in a new environment and being able to adapt. It’s been fun and challenging.”
Francis is also learning his fair share from Knight. A close friend of his parents, Tariq and Tiffany, Knight has mentored the burgeoning NJIT star since he was a child learning the game.
“I look up to him a lot,” said Francis, whose No. 20 on his Highlanders jersey was the same number worn by Knight before it was retired by Pitt in 2009. “I watch some of his older games and kind of see how he plays. A lot of people tell me how great he is, so I always try to watch him and learn from him. He gives me advice. When I’m down in Jersey, like in the summer sometimes, we are able to connect more.
“He just helps me out, not only in basketball but just in life,” Francis added. “It’s been great having him around. I love him.”
The feeling is mutual.
Knight, who has served as the associate head coach of Rutgers men’s basketball team since 2021, said he is impressed by Francis’ early success at NJIT — but not surprised by it.
“He grew up watching, obviously, the guys at Pittsburgh — Levance Fields, Tray Woodall — he knows all of those guys all really, really well,” Knight said. “For him, just growing up, he’s taken a little bit of everything he was learning from all of the guys that he watched growing up in Pittsburgh, some of the guys he had in his family and then some of the guys he was around.”
That certainly includes Knight, who remains Pitt’s all-time leader in career assists with 785, career assist average per game at 6.2, 3-point field-goal attempts in a season at 261, minutes played in a season with 1,284 in 2001-02 and consecutive games played with at least one assist at 91.
“His dad and I have been best friends since first grade,” said Knight, who played at Pitt from 2000-03 before coaching at his alma mater from 2006-16. “Tariq has lived with me at periods of time. The reality of it was, he’s always been around.”
Francis is looking to remain around the America East Conference’s upper echelon of players for some time to come.
After serving in a reserve role for much of this season, Francis has staked his claim to a spot in NJIT coach Grant Billmeier’s starting lineup, which he has held for the past five games.
“I think Tariq’s got a great personality,” Billmeier said. “He’s extremely coachable. He just has a really good way about him. He’s really well liked by all the guys on the team.”
In addition to his team-leading scoring output, which places him in the top 10 in the America East Conference, Francis is averaging 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game with 27 steals. He is shooting 41% from the field and 35% from 3-point range.
“He grew up with a lot of really good basketball minds around him,” Billmeier said. “Even though he’s a freshman, he thinks the game like an upperclassman, which is good. He doesn’t make too many freshman mistakes. He’s very poised and very under control at all times.”
For Francis, the key to his game is in his versatility.
“I think I’m an elite guard who can score the ball but also make plays for his teammates,” he said. “I think I’m good on defense, hustle, I can guard bigger guys. I’m a competitor so when you’re a competitor that takes away a lot of challenges. I would just say I’m a team player. I just want to win so whatever my team needs me to do, I’m going to try my best to do it.”
After defeating two of the America East’s top three teams in the standings a week ago, Francis said he is optimistic about his chances to help turn around the fortunes of NJIT’s program. The Highlanders (7-15, 3-7) currently reside near the bottom of the conference standings.
“I just want to be known as a winner, someone who was able to come to this program and win games and build and start a legacy that’s going to be carried on after me,” Francis said. “I just want to win.”
Billmeier, in his first season as NJIT’s coach, said Francis is well on his way to that end and beyond.
“I definitely think Tariq has a very good ability to score the basketball,” said Billmeier, who previously was an assistant coach at Seton Hall and Maryland under Kevin Willard, a former Pitt player, who is the son of ex-Panthers coach Ralph Willard. “I think he will be able to play at some professional level when he leaves college.”
Knight, too, is excited to see what Francis’ future in basketball holds in store.
“I’m just happy for him that he got the opportunity and then he’s able to make an impact and try to figure out how to win and do all those things,” he said. “I’m proud of him. He’s just trying to make the most of the opportunity he’s getting.”
With his career beginning to gain traction, Knight said it is increasingly important for Francis to remain “focused” and “grounded.”
“He’s an easy kid to talk to,” Knight said. “He’s an easy kid to push. He’s got a great work ethic. Like I said, he’s got a chance to be really, really good down the road. He’s just got to keep doing it every day.”
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.