Coyotes have been a `perfect fit' for Knapper
It wasn’t easy being a Kobe Bryant fan in West Virginia, but Brandon Knapper’s basketball history has always allowed him a certain perspective.
The Cal State San Bernardino senior, who grew in both Southern California and West Virginia, has had a winding collegiate career which culminates next week as the Coyotes play Lincoln Memorial University in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Evansville, Ind., on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
“Not a lot of people like Kobe out (in West Virginia), but being from Socal I had to stand up because he had that mentality about always being in the gym so out on the court nobody could stop you, that ‘Mamba Mentality,’” Knapper said.
“And now it’s all about the work I did when nobody was watching, in the gym, in the dark, and now I feel like every shot I shoot is going in,” he said.
Born in Charleston, Knapper’s family moved to Ontario while he was an infant and remained in Southern California until moving back to the Mountain State during his early years of elementary school.
“My dad’s family is from West Virginia, but they lived in Southern California for 30-plus years and my parents both went to Ontario High School,” Knapper said. “We moved back east when I was 7 or 8 and that’s that.”
Knapper played AAU basketball for the West Virginia Wildcats and graduated from South Charleston High in 2016 following a stellar prep career in which he was a two-time conference player of the year and averaged 28.5 points, six assists and 5.4 steals per game as a senior.
A year at Chatham, Va.’s Hargrave Military Academy in 2017 led to a scholarship at University of West Virginia, where Knapper redshirted his freshman season because of a knee injury but rebounded to play 32 games in 2019, scoring a season-high 25 points in a win over Oklahoma.
He was named to the Academic All-big 12 second team in 2020 before making the tough decision to transfer after playing a smaller role with the Hokies as a sophomore, stopping at Eastern Kentucky to earn his Bachelor’s Degree in 2021 before finding a way back home to the Inland Empire at CSUSB.
“One of the reasons I went to West Virginia was because I really thought my family was going to stay in West Virginia until they told me they wanted to move back to California,” Knapper said. “I loved the experience I had playing for a Hall of Fame coach in Bob Huggins but it was about being close to home and I really wanted to finish my career in California.”
It was the summer of 2021 when he met Coyotes assistant coach Jordan Jamestown at an open gym in Corona, and a few days later reached out to see if there could be a connection.
“I was committed to San Jose State but after meeting coach Jamestown — he seemed like a cool dude — and Cal State San Bernardino has been a perfect fit,” Knapper said. “It’s a blessing and it’s been a great transition.”
The 6-foot-1 shooting guard made his way into coach Andy Newman’s starting lineup almost immediately, earning a suite of awards while finishing 20th in the nation in scoring at 20.9 points per game.
“Brandon Knapper is going to score. He’s the best scorer in the CCAA,” Newman said. “He’s scoring the crap out of the ball right now, and sharing it and making it fun to play.”
This season, Knapper has racked up CCAA Tournament MVP and West Regional Most Outstanding Player as CSUSB continues to advance in the D-II tournament. This is the Coyotes’ first Elite Eight appearance since 2016.
“I’ve always said that I was this kind of player, even coming out of high school when I committed to West Virginia, that I was going to be all-conference by the time my career was through,” said Knapper, who also will earn his Master’s Degree in Educational Technology from CSUSB.
Now it’s about finishing what he set out to do on the court.
“I wrote these goals down — all-conference, tournament MVP and so on — and I’ve accomplished them,” he said. “Now all I want is a national championship.”