Now his top talents are three juniors and a sophomore and 2014-15 play thus far has resulted in a 13-5, 6-0 marks, including victories over Drake, Modesto Christian and Archbishop Mitty amidst a schedule matching the Mariners up with a number of national programs.
Below is a Q-and-A with Knight:
Q - Was there a different mental preparation for this season with the kids seeing as they are a year older and also more targeted by opponents because of the success of last year?
Frank Knight: We knew and expressed to the players continually that it would be a major difference in how teams prepared and played against us this year compared to last. I told our team, "Its no fun when the rabbit gets the gun." That there is a difference between being the hunter and the hunted and to expect every team's best game when they play us. So we try to practice with that type of intensity knowing that it will have to translate to our game performance. Secondly, with this team going through last season and now knowing the expectations and level of play thats needed to get to or win a state title and the maturation of the majority of the team from last year also helps when we want to add more schemes and rotations. They are a young but veteran team.
Q - How do you as their coach work with the kids in preventing not looking for better individual stats as they are gaining recruiting interest?
Frank Knight: It's not very hard. These guys have known each other and played against each other most of their lives. We told them last year right before we went on our run to the state championship that if we sacrificed our personal goals just for the next four weeks we would have a chance to win it all and with that chance will also come more opportunities to be recruited and evaluated. It was a win-win. The better we played as a team and the farther we advanced, the better it would be for them individually. They bought in. I know that many of them have the desire to play college basketball so we tell them from Nov-March let's play for each other, the name on the front of our jerseys, and in the summer you can garner extra recruiting interest.
Q - Did you schedule differently this season due to your team having greater experience?
Frank Knight: Last season, when we were preparing for Bishop Montgomery in the state final we noticed that for us Bishop Montgomery was by far the best team we had played all season. But if you look at their schedule they had played several teams that were as good as us. So I set out to schedule a pre-season that gave us the opportunity to play teams that are very good so if we do make it to that game again we would have played a few teams that were as good as them.
Q - MC doesn't have a power player inside a la an Ivan Rabb -- how do you defend teams who do plus what do you do offensively to play to your strengths?
Frank Knight: When we deal with teams with bigs we try to attack their weakness and not focus on what we don't have. We know we don't have bigs but what we do have is a very athletic and experienced team that's fast and has great lateral movement. We try to force our opponents to play to our advantages, not to theirs.
Q - As a coach of high schoolers, what aspect of that relationship is the hardest to deal with nowadays?
Frank Knight: The toughest thing to deal with is the constant change of social media and blogs. Players have lots of access to information. Articles about our team or them especially and on blogs where people can critique their game or their team. It becomes a thing I need to stay on top of because it can sway the intentions of our guys. It's a plethora of team rankings, player rankings, aau team rankings, league and section rankings, that sometimes it seems like they chase the numbers. We try to minimize all of the media rankings as something that has nothing to do with us or things we can't control. We focus on what we can control.
Q - What is your MO for dealing with parents who might just want to have too much say in how much and at what position their child plays?
Frank Knight: Parents typically have their kids' best interest at the center of their opinions. I understand that because I have sons who play sports also. What I try to do is show them, like our players, the personal benefits of playing together, or playing a certain role. At the end of the day how can everyone get what they want? How can your son get a college scholarship and play in our system at the same time? With winning and playing together comes more opportunities to be evaluated.
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