Photo by: Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
Knecht Named Unanimous SEC Player of the Year by AP; Aidoo First Team, Zeigler Second Team
March 12, 2024 | Men's Basketball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Dalton Knecht of the University of Tennessee men's basketball team is the unanimous 2023-24 Associated Press SEC Player of the Year, as announced Tuesday morning.
Knecht also collected unanimous AP SEC First Team All-SEC distinction, the only individual to do so, and won AP SEC Newcomer of the Year.
In addition, Jonas Aidoo took one of the six spots—he tied for the final position—awarded to AP First Team All-SEC honorees, while Zakai Zeigler garnered AP Second Team All-SEC distinction.
Head coach Rick Barnes received one vote for AP SEC Coach of the Year, the only nod that did not go to South Carolina's Lamont Paris, who won the award.
The Associated Press All-SEC accolades are voted on by 14 reporters, each of whom covers a team in the league.
The official SEC plaudits, as voted on by the league's 14 head coaches, were released Monday. Knecht won SEC Player of the Year and was a First Team All-SEC designee, while Zeigler was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-SEC pick. Aidoo claimed Second Team All-SEC status, as well as joined Zeigler on the SEC All-Defensive Team.
A fifth-year guard from Thornton, Colo., Knecht is averaging a league-best 21.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, while shooing 47.4 percent overall and 40.5 percent on 3-pointers. In SEC play, he averaged 25.5 points per contest, the second-best mark in the league over the last 22 years (2002-24). His 24.8 scoring average on the road finished as the second-best by an SEC player in the last 20 seasons (2004-24).
A junior forward out of Durham, N.C., Aidoo is averaging 12.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per affair, while shooting at a 53.3 percent clip. He owns eight double-doubles, including three 20-point, 10-rebound performances. In SEC play, Aidoo tallied 13.3 points per game on 54.7 percent field-goal shooting, along with 8.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game, with the latter three marks all top-four in the conference.
Zeigler, a junior guard from Long Island, N.Y., is averaging 11.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, an SEC-best 6.0 assists and 1.9 steals per contest, while shooting 40.4 percent from the floor and 35.3 percent from deep. He owns a 2.80 assist-to-turnover ratio that, like his steals average, ranks fourth, in the league. In conference action, Zeigler put up 14.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, a league-high 7.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game, notching a 43.6 percent field-goal ledger and a 36.9 3-point mark.
Knecht, Aidoo and Zeigler helped steer fifth-ranked Tennessee (24-7, 14-4 SEC) to its 11th SEC regular season crown, including its sixth outright championship. The Volunteers earned the top seed in the SEC Tournament and, following a double-bye, open play Friday at 1 p.m. ET against a to-be-determined opponent at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., live on ESPN.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men's basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook. Â
2023-24 ASSOCIATED PRESS SEC MEN'S BASKETBALL AWARDS
Coach of the Year: Lamont Paris, South Carolina
u-Player of the Year: Dalton Knecht, Tennessee
Newcomer of the Year: Dalton Knecht, Tennessee
First Team
Mark Sears, Alabama
Johni Broome, Auburn
Antonio Reeves, Kentucky
t-Tolu Smith III, Mississippi State
u-Dalton Knecht, Tennessee
t-Jonas Aidoo, Tennessee
Second Team
Jaylin Williams, Auburn
Tyrese Samuel, Florida
Reed Sheppard, Kentucky
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
Wade Taylor IV, Texas A&M
u = unanimous pick
t = tied in voting
AP All-SEC Voting Panel: Nick Alvarez, al.com; Rick Bozich, WDRB-TV; Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun; Travis Brown, Bryan-College Station Eagle; Adam Cole, Opelika-Auburn News; Madison Hricik, The State; Brian Holland, WVLA-TV, WGMB-TV; Bob Holt, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; Michael Katz, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal; Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star; Stefan Krajisnik, Clarion-Ledger; Lauren Walsh, WSMV-TV; Marc Weiszer, Athens Banner-Herald; Mike Wilson, Knoxville News Sentinel.
Knecht also collected unanimous AP SEC First Team All-SEC distinction, the only individual to do so, and won AP SEC Newcomer of the Year.
In addition, Jonas Aidoo took one of the six spots—he tied for the final position—awarded to AP First Team All-SEC honorees, while Zakai Zeigler garnered AP Second Team All-SEC distinction.
Head coach Rick Barnes received one vote for AP SEC Coach of the Year, the only nod that did not go to South Carolina's Lamont Paris, who won the award.
The Associated Press All-SEC accolades are voted on by 14 reporters, each of whom covers a team in the league.
The official SEC plaudits, as voted on by the league's 14 head coaches, were released Monday. Knecht won SEC Player of the Year and was a First Team All-SEC designee, while Zeigler was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-SEC pick. Aidoo claimed Second Team All-SEC status, as well as joined Zeigler on the SEC All-Defensive Team.
A fifth-year guard from Thornton, Colo., Knecht is averaging a league-best 21.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, while shooing 47.4 percent overall and 40.5 percent on 3-pointers. In SEC play, he averaged 25.5 points per contest, the second-best mark in the league over the last 22 years (2002-24). His 24.8 scoring average on the road finished as the second-best by an SEC player in the last 20 seasons (2004-24).
A junior forward out of Durham, N.C., Aidoo is averaging 12.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per affair, while shooting at a 53.3 percent clip. He owns eight double-doubles, including three 20-point, 10-rebound performances. In SEC play, Aidoo tallied 13.3 points per game on 54.7 percent field-goal shooting, along with 8.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game, with the latter three marks all top-four in the conference.
Zeigler, a junior guard from Long Island, N.Y., is averaging 11.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, an SEC-best 6.0 assists and 1.9 steals per contest, while shooting 40.4 percent from the floor and 35.3 percent from deep. He owns a 2.80 assist-to-turnover ratio that, like his steals average, ranks fourth, in the league. In conference action, Zeigler put up 14.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, a league-high 7.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game, notching a 43.6 percent field-goal ledger and a 36.9 3-point mark.
Knecht, Aidoo and Zeigler helped steer fifth-ranked Tennessee (24-7, 14-4 SEC) to its 11th SEC regular season crown, including its sixth outright championship. The Volunteers earned the top seed in the SEC Tournament and, following a double-bye, open play Friday at 1 p.m. ET against a to-be-determined opponent at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., live on ESPN.
To keep up with the University of Tennessee men's basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook. Â
2023-24 ASSOCIATED PRESS SEC MEN'S BASKETBALL AWARDS
Coach of the Year: Lamont Paris, South Carolina
u-Player of the Year: Dalton Knecht, Tennessee
Newcomer of the Year: Dalton Knecht, Tennessee
First Team
Mark Sears, Alabama
Johni Broome, Auburn
Antonio Reeves, Kentucky
t-Tolu Smith III, Mississippi State
u-Dalton Knecht, Tennessee
t-Jonas Aidoo, Tennessee
Second Team
Jaylin Williams, Auburn
Tyrese Samuel, Florida
Reed Sheppard, Kentucky
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
Wade Taylor IV, Texas A&M
u = unanimous pick
t = tied in voting
AP All-SEC Voting Panel: Nick Alvarez, al.com; Rick Bozich, WDRB-TV; Kevin Brockway, Gainesville Sun; Travis Brown, Bryan-College Station Eagle; Adam Cole, Opelika-Auburn News; Madison Hricik, The State; Brian Holland, WVLA-TV, WGMB-TV; Bob Holt, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; Michael Katz, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal; Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star; Stefan Krajisnik, Clarion-Ledger; Lauren Walsh, WSMV-TV; Marc Weiszer, Athens Banner-Herald; Mike Wilson, Knoxville News Sentinel.
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