Knecht a Consensus First Team All-American

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – With all four major All-American teams now public, Dalton Knecht of the University of Tennessee men's basketball team is officially a consensus First Team All-American.

Four outlets—the Associated Press, the NABC, The Sporting News and the USBWA—are used to decide the consensus All-America teams. The aggregate results from those four organizations determine the first-team and second-team selections.

A fifth-year guard, Knecht collected First Team All-America plaudits from each of the four voting bodies, one of four players to do so. The others are North Carolina's R.J. Davis, Purdue's Zach Edey and Houston's Jamal Shead.

Knecht is the fourth consensus First Team All-American in Tennessee history, joining Grant Williams (2018-19), Dale Ellis (1982-83) and Bernard King (1976-77). Both Knecht and Williams played for Rick Barnes.

Additionally, Knecht is just the eighth former junior college player—he played at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo., from 2019-21—in the NCAA Tournament era (1938-39 to present) to earn consensus First Team All-America recognition, including the first in 33 years. He joins UNLV's Larry Johnson (1990-91), St. John's' Walter Berry (1985-86), Michigan's Rickey Green (1976-77), North Carolina's Bob McAdoo (1971-72), UCLA's Sidney Wicks (1970-71), Detroit Mercy's Spencer Haywood (1968-69) and Minnesota's Dick Garmaker (1954-55).

Furthermore, Knecht is the first player in the NCAA Tournament era to be a consensus First Team All-America after previously attending both another Division I school and a junior college.

Knecht, who came to Tennessee from Northern Colorado, is also just the eighth transfer in the NCAA Tournament era to garner consensus First Team All-America designation in his first year competing at a new program. The others are Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe (2021-22), Syracuse's Wesley Johnson (2009-10), Mississippi State's Lawrence Roberts (2003-04), North Carolina's Bob McAdoo (1971-72), Detroit Mercy's Spencer Haywood (1968-69), Denver's Vince Boryla (1948-49) and Notre Dame's Billy Hassett (1944-45).

Only 11 others have even notched second-team honors in their first year active for a new program, while just 11 other transfers—12 occurrences, as Indiana State's Larry Bird did it twice—have been named a consensus First Team All-American in even their second or third season competing for a new school, including fellow 2023-24 honoree Tristen Newton of Connecticut.

Knecht is one of three mid-major transfers ever to be a consensus Division I All-American, including the first to do so in his first year competing at his new school and the second who transferred to a high-major school. The only other individual to do so are Jacksonville's Artis Gilmore (1970-71), who earned the accolade in his second active season after transferring from Gardner-Webb, and the aforementioned Newton, who garnered the plaudit in his second year after transferring from East Carolina.

The SEC Player of the Year from both the league's head coaches and the Associated Press, the latter unanimously, Knecht enters the NCAA Tournament averaging 21.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He owns a 46.5 percent field-goal ledger and a 39.7 percent 3-point mark in his lone season as a Volunteer.

Knecht, who has scored 35-plus points five times to tie a program single-season record, is among 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy, one of 15 players on the Wooden Award National Ballot and among 30 finalists for the Lute Olson Award. He is also one of five finalists for the Julius Erving Award.

The 6-foot-6, 213-pounder from Thornton, Colo., registered 25.5 points per game in SEC play to lead the Volunteers to an outright regular season championship. That scoring average is the second-best in the SEC over the last 22 years (2002-24), the best of any Division I player in league play regardless of conference in 2023-24 and the best league scoring average by a Power Six player since 2019-20.

Knecht and sixth-ranked, second-seeded Tennessee (24-8, 14-4 SEC) begin NCAA Tournament action Thursday at 9:20 p.m. versus No. 15-seeded Saint Peter's, live on TNT from Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.

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.

2023-24 CONSENUS ALL-AMERICANS

First Team (consensus points)
R.J. Davis, North Carolina (12)
Zach Edey, Purdue (12)
Dalton Knecht, Tennessee (12)
Jamal Shead, Houston (12)
Tristen Newton, Connecticut (11)

Second Team (consensus points)
Tyler Kolek, Marquette (9)
Hunter Dickinson, Kansas (7)
Kyle Filipowski, Duke (7)
DaRon Holmes II, Dayton (7)
Mark Sears, Alabama (7)

University of Tennessee Athletics

Players Mentioned

Dalton Knecht

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