Calipari Point Guard Project: Brandon Knight

Every year, there's a team who comes away with the top recruiting class and all of their fans become over excited about what players from high school are coming to play for their team.

It's just something else to look forward to in the offseason or to get excited about after a disappointing performance.

However, sometimes top recruits don't always back up their hype out on the court (see North Carolina last season).

With that said, there is one team that always does, and with five players leaving for the draft after last season, they have to.

John Calipari may be known for leaving programs with probation and recruiting violations and everything like that, but while he's at a school, they will be successful. Maybe this has something to do with him always having a top point guard.

Three years ago, Derrick Rose went to Memphis to play for Calipari and took the Tigers all the way to the National Championship games where they lost a heartbreaker thanks to Mario Chalmers' clutch shooting towards the end of the second half.

However, the point was proven. Calipari started bringing in top recruiting classes to play for him and his dribble drive system.

After Rose was Tyreke Evans. Evans played small forward in high school, but Calipari moved him over to guard when he arrived in Memphis.

And after struggling for 11 games, he decided to move Evans over to point guard and the Tigers didn't lose another game until they were defeated by Missouri in the NCAA Tournament.

Finally, last season's guard was probably the most famous to play for Calipari. That probably had something to do with the move from Memphis to Kentucky, but don't tell John Wall that.

Wall was always the fastest player on the court and was one of the most explosive guards the NCAA had seen in a while.

In his first collegiate debut against Miami, Wall scored 19 points including the game winning shot with only .5 seconds left on the clock to give the Wildcats the win.

And, against Hartford in December, Wall set the Kentucky single game assist record with 16 as opposed to just one turnover.

However, Kentucky's season fell just short of a Final Four run when they lost to West Virginia in the Elite Eight.

With all of that said, though, Kentucky fans don't care about the past, Calipari could still be on the chopping block if he fails to keep bringing in this kind of talent and success.

So, let me introduce you to a name that will be known by every basketball fan in America by next December, and the new "John Calipari Point Guard Project."

Brandon Knight.

As the fourth-generation Calipari guard, Knight may not be the most athletic player on the court next season, but his physical strength and great ball handling is second to none in this year's recruiting class.

On the other side of the ball, Knight is a great defender who has a nose for the ball, and isn't afraid to grab every rebound he can.

In high school, Knight led his team to four state title appearances, including back-to-back wins in 2008 and 2009.

He averaged 31.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game throughout his high school career.

This past year, he was a McDonald's All-American and Jordan Classic All-American. He also finished his high school career second on Florida's all time scoring list.

He is obviously the best player in the 2010 class.

However, that only means that Kentucky is counting on him to come in and back up all of this hype with success as an individual and as a team.

And, with the three guards before him, he has some pretty big shoes to fill.

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