The 2008-09 season has had four parts for Dirigo’s Thomas Knight – preseason, regular season, postseason and awards season.

Less than two weeks after being named Maine’s Mr. Basketball, Knight was selected the 2008-09 Gatorade Maine Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year Tuesday.

The award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court.

Knight is now a finalist for Gatorade’s National Boys Basketball Player of the Year, which will be announced later this month.

The 6-foot-9 senior center led the Cougars to their first state championship game since 1983 while 22.2 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.5 blocks, 2.5 steals and 2.5 assists per game. He has been named the Mountain Valley Conference’s player of the year, the MVP of the Western Class C tournament and Sun Journal Player of the Year.

Knight has maintained a B-plus average in the classroom. He has served as a student council representative in addition to volunteering as a youth basketball instructor and leading a fundraising campaign for the school’s basketball program.

He has singed a national letter of intent to play basketball at the University of Notre Dame this fall.

Previous winners of this award include Ryan Martin of Maranacook (2008) and Troy Barnies of Edward Little (2007).