The Tennessee Volunteers probably had their best NCAA runs in modern times. An inspirational journey to the Elite Eight after 14 years along with a Conference regular season championships validates the fact that they are a force to be reckoned with. Keeping that in mind, many of the Vols fans are convinced that the driving force behind this revolutionary success was their 6 ft 5 in forward Dalton Knecht.

The breakout story of Dalton Knecht

Being projected as one of the lottery picks in the upcoming NBA drafts, the 23-year-old capped off a sensational senior year at Tennessee. So much so, that he was even in the running for this year’s National Player Of The Year honor. However, this comes not as a surprise for those who have been following his game for a long time. His college basketball career commenced at Northeastern Junior College in 2019. As a freshman, he was an effective offensive option in the squad by scoring an average of 13.3 points in each contest. Following this, he elevated his game to a great extent which saw his sophomore year resulting in 23.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, and two assists per game.

At this time, Northern Colorado showed an interest in him and invited him to pursue his college basketball career with the Bears. Alas, Knecht didn’t have the best of seasons in his debut year. He participated in an average of 24.1 minutes of playing time in 34 games. This could only amount to 313 points, and 127 rebounds to go along with 32 assists. Nonetheless, Knecht went through an amazing transition in the subsequent year. Seemingly, his scoring average saw a giant leap from 8.2 p.p.g to 20.2 p.p.g. Simultaneously, his defensive game also witnessed an upgrade as he grabbed rebounds at the rate of 7.2 boards per fixture. Consequently, these kinds of numbers were enough for the Volunteers to make him a part of their locker room.

Knecht making the most of his extra year of eligibility

Dalton Knecht became an easy choice for the Vols the moment he put his name in the NCAA transfer portal. From the very beginning, he was able to rule the SEC. He won the Player of the Week for the first week with a 17-point performance in the Volunteers’ season-opening win. Then, it didn’t take much time for him to drop a then-career-high 37 points against the Tar Heels. Accordingly, a second SEC Player of the Week was in order after his dominance against Mississippi State (28 points) and Georgia (36 points).

Just before the competition could enter its March Madness phase, Knecht turns on his beast mode. Apparently, a five-game stretch accumulated an average of 31 points per game. Moreover, in the SEC semi-finals against Kentucky, he landed a career-high 40 points. A 23-point game against the Peacocks in the opening NCAA round quickly followed it. Eventually, on 17 occasions, Dalton Knecht registered 20+ points next to his name. Therefore, it paved the way for him to grab the SEC Player of the Year and the SEC Newcomer of the Year.

Also, he tied the overall 14th position in terms of scoring with an average of 21.7 points per game (780 points). In addition to this, Knecht was 264 of 577 in his field goals which gives him an efficiency of 45.8%. Meanwhile, his beyond-the-arc shooting resulted in an accuracy of 39.7%.

Indeed, Dalton Knecht can be a worthy inclusion to any franchise in the NBA. An All-American honors and a shout-out from Kevin Durant himself further speaks volumes of what an exceptional talent he really is. Fans will be eager to find out which franchise gets to benefit from his phenomenal skills.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.