July 18, 2007

PITTSBURGH-- The University of Pittsburgh announced the appointment of two director of basketball operations positions on Wednesday. Former Pitt star Brandin Knight was named Director of Men's Basketball Operations while Mark Rhodehamel will take over the position of Director of Women's Basketball Operations.

Knight, who served the 2006-07 academic year as Pitt's Program Assistant/Video Coordinator, will manage the day-to-day operations of the men's basketball program, serve as liaison to athletic department officials as well as coordinate student-athletes' practice, game and daily schedules.

A Pitt point guard from 1999-2003, Knight played two seasons with the NBDL's Asheville Altitude. He helped lead the Altitude to back-to-back NBDL titles in both 2003-04 and 2004-05. His leadership was largely responsible for Pitt's recent basketball renaissance. Knight helped guide Pitt to two consecutive Big East regular season titles (2001-02 and 2002-03), two NCAA "Sweet Sixteen" appearances (2002 and 2003), the program's first-ever Big East Tournament title (2003) and an 89-40 four-year record. A 2003 Wooden All-America team selection, 2002 Associated Press All-America selection and two-time All-Big East honoree, Knight concluded his career with 1,440 points, 785 assists, 492 rebounds and 298 steals. He earned the Big East's co-Most Valuable Player and Most Improved Player awards after leading Pitt to a 28-5 record in 2001-02. Knight holds school records for career assists (785), career assist average (6.2 apg.), career steals (298), season assists (251 in 2001-02) and season minutes played (1,285 in 2001-02).

Knight graduated from Pitt with a History degree in 2005. He is a native of East Orange, N.J.

Rhodehamel served as Pitt's Facilities and Operations Assistant in 2006-07. His many duties included serving as assistant tournament manager for the Women's NCAA Basketball Championship, producing presentations for facilities updates and tournament operations and implementing an action plan for updating the PITT logo. He assisted with and oversaw operations for several athletic program events including football, gymnastics, wrestling, volleyball and men's and women's basketball.

Rhodehamel also worked as an Operations Intern for Mellon Arena/SMG in 2006. His main responsibility was to aid the Event Manager with the operation of events ranging from NHL games to family events such as Disney on Ice. Rhodehamel also assisted in various other duties within Mellon Arena.

Rhodehamel received his degree in Public Justice from the State University of New York at Oswego where he competed in men's swimming. He earned his Masters in Sport Management at Slippery Rock University where he was named the Most Outstanding Graduate Student in Sport Management in 2005-2006. He was honored with the Golden Pen Award for best written paper in the Sport Management program.

PITT TRANSACTIONS

Brandin Knight--Named Director of Men's Basketball Operations

Mark Rhodehamel--Named Director of Women's Basketball Operations

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