Brandon Knight spent his one-minute-and-24-second-long opening statement thanking everybody. The media for showing up, coaches for making him better, family for supporting him, teammates for always having his back. By the end of it, at least four media members had a “Brandon Knight is going to the NBA” tweet loaded and ready to send. But the words, the actual words of departure, never came. It led to an awkward and bemusing first question: “Umm. So, does that mean you’re going?”

Yes. He was. He might have just forgotten to say it, but it seemed more likely he couldn’t quite bring himself to formally state his exit. He’s not the kind to disappoint, and even though pretty much everyone knew he was going, he was still announcing the termination of his UK career.

The one-year career was a deviation from what came before him, but was no less successful. He broke the freshman scoring record, set one year earlier, despite not being the first (or second) player on this year’s team to break the freshman single-game scoring record. He wasn’t a true point guard in the Chris Paul sense, but that’s not what this team needed. He went from stumbling his way around Maui to sinking two game-winners in the Tournament. At the beginning of the year, Knight would run over to Calipari and ask the coach to get on someone for not executing. Quickly, however, Knight had no troubles asserting himself vocally on the floor. His professional attitude was perfect for a team that went through its struggles but didn’t lose confidence, couldn’t lose confidence, in itself.

Constantly improving was the ultimatum for Knight, the entire year. I remember him and Terrence Jones hanging back after the students-only practice at the very beginning of the year to shoot extra. I remember trying to catch him before practice for a quick interview after the rest of the media had finished up, but he had already sprinted onto the floor to start getting his shots up. “See, Brandon?” A UK Athletics staffer called. “Two minutes isn’t all that bad.” But two minutes spent giving quotes to the media was two minutes not spent practicing a floater in the lane, or the pull-up jumper that would eventually win the game against Ohio State, or shooting threes from going over a pick-and-roll.

He was self-driven. As Calipari said, Knight would be the one shooting extra at 6 a.m. before heading to class. (He was that way until the end, too. When he told the UK Athletics staff he was going to need a press conference to go pro, they wanted to work on possible questions and answers. He declined, telling them to just send him a list. He worked on them himself Thursday night, and the staff had to prod him into giving them some heads-up on what his opening statement would be.)

Every point guard has progressed as a basketball player under Calipari. Knight was no different; he gradually learned how to run a team from the point guard position while simultaneously being the team’s most efficient offensive option. He didn’t end up perfect, of course. There always seemed to be at least one ill-advised 3-pointer a game, but in totality, Knight finished the year close enough to being a point guard that NBA personnel have told him that’s what his position will be on the next level.

But as a person, Knight progressed infinitely more, providing a mutualistic relationship for himself, his teammates, and UK as a whole. His work ethic was more developed than customary freshmen, and that inevitably rubbed off on his teammates. His work garnered his teammates respect, and ultimately enabled Knight to be the unquestioned taker of last-second shots because he had put in the time.

His teammates helped balance him out, though, too. While his increased maturity was the driving force behind his, and UK’s, consistent improvement throughout the year, he also needed to let loose a little more. His one-track mind kept him coming into the gym early while still getting a 4.0, but it also separated him from the typical college freshmen around him. Steve Jones, who follows recruiting for the UK Rivals site, recalled Knight essentially keeping to himself during the McDonald’s All-American game and the week surrounding it. A point guard must not only share the ball but share his time off the court.

Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb and Stacey Poole let Knight tap into the side of himself a 19-year-old typically possesses. He became unafraid to act goofy at times. At the beginning of the year, Knight showed little of that, at least publicly; during the postseason run, however, Knight was more comfortable. Once, he was searching for a particular word in an interview. He couldn’t find what his mind was looking for. “4.0 (GPA) my ass,” said a reporter, and Knight laughed. Not a courtesy laugh, either. A genuine one.

After the Ohio State win, as UK SID DeWayne Peevy tried to corral Knight for a post-game interview, Knight jokingly gave him a juke and spin move before relenting to explaining how he hit a pull-up game-winner with a hand in his face. It was a fusion of all he had become — UK’s best player, but also a great person.