Ed. Note: This post is the first in our series, Season in Review. We’ll be revisiting individual players’ seasons for both the men’s and the women’s teams – men’s released on Mondays and women’s on Thursdays.

The CAA Player of the Year (and Defensive Player of the Year!) put together one of the greatest seasons in William and Mary history, cementing him in the pantheon of Tribe hoops.

Overview

I mean, what’s there even to say that hasn’t been said? Nathan Knight, the Commodore, the lanky kid from Syracuse, N.Y., put on a show this year. He started the season with a double-double, ended his career with a double-double, and collected 21 more in between. He forced the national media to pay attention with 30 points in a near-upset of Oklahoma in Norman. He reached the 30-point plateau three times and added 15 more contests with at least 20 points. He averaged 1.5 blocks and 1.8 assists per game. All in all, Knight’s senior season was straight-up magnificent.

Thankfully, his efforts have been rewarded. He swept through the CAA postseason awards, was named the Mid-Major National Player of the Year by multiple outlets, including College Insider, and is a finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, the Hoop Hall’s award for the best center in the country.

However, and I say this with all respect, you might have foreseen an even more incredible year from Knight, especially offensively. While Knight diversified his scoring much more this year compared to last year (21.9 percent of his shots came from three-point range in 2019-20, compared with 10 percent his junior year, and he made a decent 30.5 percent of them), his efficiency fell, especially from around the basket. The eye test told that he was missing more jump hooks and layups, and the numbers tend to bear that out: his two-point shooting percentage of .578 dropped to .524 from his junior to senior year. Obviously, some of this has to do with increased usage and an arguably less talented supporting cast, but it did seem as if something was just slightly out of sync for parts of this season. I think expecting a scoring average of closer to 25 points per game was not unreasonable heading into the year.

All that being said, he was a better all-around player this season, and certainly improved his professional prospects. He increased his rebounding output significantly (which probably owed something to the absence of Justin Pierce), shot better from the free throw line, showed prowess handling the ball, and anchored a much-improved Tribe defense. I don’t claim to be an NBA draft expert, but he may have showed enough potential to have a team take a chance on him in the late second round. Either way, he will certainly play summer ball (if it happens) with the possibility to play his way onto an NBA roster. One way or another, he’s going to make a good bit of money playing basketball.

Is he the *greatest* player in William and Mary history? That’s tough. But over his four years, was he the *best* to ever come through Williamsburg? I would say yes. (Don’t worry – we’ll have that argument at some point here on this blog.) Either way, next year, there will be a 6-foot-10, 250-pound hole at Kaplan Arena. But Nate is off to bigger and better things.

Here’s a Number: 35.0

That’s Knight’s Player Efficiency Rating from his senior year. PER has its issues, but it’s generally a good way to combine box score statistics into a single number. Knight ranked first in the country this season. Let me say again: Nathan Knight, from the College of William and Mary, had more impressive box score numbers than any other player in the country. If that doesn’t tell you just how special an individual season you just saw, I don’t know what will.

A Lasting Memory

Ed. Note: For seniors, we’ll look back at a moment that we’ll remember for a long time.

Knight had two buzzer-beating game-winners this season, and both came against Northeastern (who, sidenote, had really shitty luck this year). The one at home, in a game the Tribe desperately needed to win to get back on track, might have been the most joyous I saw Kaplan Arena in my four years as a student.

Need I remind you that he’s a lefty?

An incredible play from an incredible player. Thanks for the mems, Nate. And see ya back in a couple of years when the number 13 rises to the rafters.

H/T to Sports Reference for providing access for advanced statistics for this post.