2023-24 Men's Basketball Roster | SEC Champions
Roster
Knecht, Dalton
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Jersey Number 3
Dalton Knecht
- Class:
- Fifth Year
- Position:
- G
- Height:
- 6-6
- Weight:
- 213
- Hometown:
- Thornton, Colo.
- High School:
- Prairie View High School
- Prev School:
- University of Northern Colorado
Bio
CAREER HIGHS
- Points: 40 // vs. Kentucky, 3/9/24
- Rebounds: 14 // at CSUN, 12/10/22
- Assists: 6 // vs. LSU, 2/7/24
- Steals: 3 (4x) // last vs. Auburn, 2/28/24
- Blocks: 2 (8x) // last vs. Syracuse, 11/20/23
- Field Goals: 14 (2x) // last vs. Purdue, 3/31/24
- 3-Pointers: 6 (4x) // last vs. Purdue, 3/31/24
- Free Throws: 12 // at Idaho State, 12/31/22
- Minutes: 42 // at Idaho State, 12/31/22
HONORS
- 2024 Consensus First Team All-American (Associated Press, NABC, The Sporting News [unanimous] & USBWA)
- 2024 SEC Player of the Year (Coaches & AP [unanimous])
- 2024 Julius Erving Award Honoree
- 2024 AP SEC Newcomer of the Year
- 2024 First Team All-SEC (Coaches & AP [unanimous])
- 2024 First Team All-SEC (KenPom)
- 2024 NABC First Team All-District 20
- 2024 Riley Wallace Award Recipient
- CBS Sports Transfer of the Year & First Team All-American
- ESPN Transfer of the Year & First Team All-American
- Field of 68 Transfer of the Year & First Team All-American
- NCAA March Madness Transfer of the Year & First Team All-American
- Associated Press National Player of the Year runner-up
- Naismith Trophy Finalist, Semifinalist & Midseason Team
- Wooden Award Finalist/All-American, National Ballot, Late Season Top 20 Watch List & Midseason Top 25 Watch List
- USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Watch List
- Lute Olson Player of the Year Award Finalist & Midseason Watch List
- Tennessee Sportswriters Association Player of the Year
- Tennessee Sports HOF Co-Male Amateur Athlete of the Year
- NCAA Midwest Region All-Tournament Team
- Julius Erving Award Finalist, Midseason Top 10 List & Preseason Watch List
- University of Tennessee Athletics Male Student-Athlete of the Year
- The Athletic Midseason Second Team All-American
- 4x SEC Player of the Week (11/13/23, 1/15/24, 1/22/24 & 3/4/24)
- 2x USBWA Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week (1/16/24 & 1/23/24)
- Associated Press National Player of the Week (1/22/24)
- Naismith Trophy National Player of the Week (1/22/24)
- FOX Sports Guard of the Week (1/16/24)
- Allstate Maui Invitational All-Tournament Team
- 2023-24 NABC Honors Court
- 2023-24 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll
- 2023 Second Team All-Big Sky
- 2023 NABC Second Team All-District 6
- 2021 NJCAA First Team All-American
- 2020 NJCAA All-Region IX
PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL
- NBA Bio Page
- Averaged 9.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 19.2 minutes per contest while shooting 46.1 from the field and 37.6 percent from 3-point range in his rookie season with the Lakers, making 16 starts across 78 appearances.
- The first Rising Stars Challenge selection in Tennessee history, his team won the event and he thus competed in the 2025 NBA All-Star Game.
- The 19th NBA rookie ever to shoot 5-of-5 from 3-point range (11/13/24 against Memphis) and, in a 37-point outing, the NBA rookie co-record holder for made 3-pointers in a single game with a 9-of-12 showing (11/19/24 against Utah).
- Was the eighth-leading scorer (min. two games) during the 2024 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, posting averages of 21.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
- Signed a four-year, $18.4 million NBA rookie contract with the Lakers on July 3, 2024.
- Selected in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft (No. 17 overall) by the Los Angeles Lakers.
CAREER
- One of just four individuals to average over 20.0 points per game in a full Tennessee career, as his 21.7 mark trails only Bernard King (25.8), Ernie Grunfeld (22.3) and Allan Houston (21.9).
- Recorded the third-most made 3-pointers per game (min. 50 3PM) in Tennessee history with 2.58 and placed sixth in 3-point percentage (min. 200 3PA) with a 39.7 clip.
- First SEC player with back-to-back 35-point games (1/13/24 & 1/16/24) since Shaquille O’Neal nearly 33 years prior (2/17/91 & 2/20/91).
- Fifth Tennessee player—seventh occurrence—to score 35-plus points in back-to-back games, notching the fourth instance in SEC play, and the fifth with multiple 35-point showings on the road.
- First Volunteer ever to score 30-plus points in a five-game span (1/13/24-1/30/24).
- Tied Dyron Nix for the seventh-most 30-point games in program history with eight.
- Tied Allan Houston for the third-most 35-point showings at Tennessee with six, trailing just Bernard King (11) and Ernie Grunfeld (eight).
- Compiled five 37-point performances to rank second in program history, behind just Bernard King (nine).
- Matched Tony White for the second-most 39-point outings ever at Tennessee with three, behind only Bernard King (six).
- Placed second at Tennessee in NCAA Tournament scoring average (26.0), plus fifth in both NCAA Tournament points (104) and 3-point percentage (min. 20 3PA; 40.0).
- Set the school record for points (37) and made field goals (14) in an NCAA Tournament contest, plus tied the top mark in made 3-pointers (six).
- The only Volunteer to thrice score greater than 20 points in NCAA Tournament game, as well as one of two—the other is Ernie Grunfeld—with two such 25-point outings.
2023-24 - FIFTH YEAR
- Game-by-Game Statistics
- VIDEO: 2024 Player Feature
- VIDEO: Mic'd Up
- VIDEO: "Everything Orange" Podcast
- FEATURE: One Shining Weekend
- One of three Volunteers to start all 36 contests, tying the fifth-highest single-season mark in program history.
- Finished second on Tennessee’s single-season points list with 780, trailing just the 806 by Allan Houston in 1990-91.
- Placed sixth on the program’s single-season leaderboard in made field goals (264), co-sixth in made 3-pointers (93), co-No. 10 in made 3-pointers per game (2.58), No. 13 in free-throw attempts (206), No. 15 in made free throws (159), No. 16 in scoring average (21.67) and No. 22 in minutes (1,100), plus set the field-goal attempts (577) record.
- Averaged 21.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.6 blocks in 30.5 minutes per game, while shooting 45.8 percent overall, 39.7 percent from deep and 77.2 percent at the line.
- Paced the Volunteers in scoring, 3-point percentage, made free throws and free-throw attempts, second in minutes and co-second in blocks, plus third in field-goal percentage (min. 25 FGA), rebounding and defensive rebounding (4.1).
- Tallied one double-double and finished second on the team with 28 dunks.
- One of three all-time consensus First Team All-Americans in the NCAA Tournament era (since 1938-39) who transferred from a mid-major school, joining Tristen Newton (2023-24) and Artis Gilmore (1970-71).
- Eighth transfer, including the first from a mid-major DI school, in the NCAA Tournament era to garner consensus First Team All-America status in his first season competing at a new program
- Eighth former junior college player in the NCAA Tournament era to be a consensus First Team All-American, including the first since Larry Johnson in 1990-91 and the first who also transferred from one DI school to another.
- Fourth consensus First Team All-American in Tennessee history, joining Grant Williams (2018-19), Dale Ellis (1982-83) and Bernard King (1976-77).
- First Volunteer to win a “Starting Five” award, earning the Julius Erving Award as the nation’s premier small forward.
- Ninth transfer to win SEC Player of the Year, including the first to do so in his first active campaign and the first to come from a mid-major DI school.
- Accumulated six of the 10 36-point showings in the SEC, including five of the seven 37-point performances.
- Tallied five of the 12 occurrences of an SEC player hitting 13-plus made field goals, including two of the four with 14 makes.
- Recorded the 16th 40-point outing in Tennessee history, including the third at Food City Center.
- Dropped 39-plus points three times to lead all DI players—only three others did so even twice—and tie Bernard King’s program single-season record set in 1974-75.
- Poured in 37-plus points five times to lead all DI players—only one other did so even thrice—and set a new Tennessee single-season record.
- Put up 35-plus points six times to lead all DI players—only one other did so even four times—and set a new Tennessee single-season record.
- Scored 30-plus points eight times to rank third among DI players and tie Allan Houston’s 1989-90 mark for fourth on the program’s single-season leaderboard.
- Became the first Volunteer to notched 35-plus points four times in SEC play in a single season, breaking Bernard King’s record of three in 1976-77.
- Finished fourth nationally in made field goals, fifth in total points and eighth in scoring average, as well as No. 39 in 3-point percentage (min. 2.5 3PM/gm), co-No. 41 in free-throw attempts and No. 45 in made free throws.
- Led the SEC in scoring average and placed second in total points, with his 780 good for the No. 13 total in SEC history and the third-highest in the last 33 years (1991-2024).
- Paced the SEC in made field goals, with his 264 makes good for the most in the SEC in 27 years since Ron Mercer had 297 in 1996-97.
- Ranked third in the SEC in 3-point percentage and free-throw attempts, co-third in made 3-pointers per game, fourth in total made 3-pointers, fifth in made free throws, ninth in field-goal percentage, No. 11 in total defensive rebounds (148) and No. 15 in defensive rebounds per game.
- Averaged a league-best 25.5 points per game in SEC play, the highest conference-only scoring average of any DI player in the nation, the second-best mark in the SEC in at least the last 22 seasons (2002-24) and the best ledger by any Power Six player since 2019-20.
- Finished second in SEC-only action in 3-point percentage (42.4) and made 3-pointers per game (3.1), plus eighth in defensive rebounding (4.4), ninth in field-goal percentage (48.4) and co-No. 20 in total rebounding (5.2).
- Averaged 24.8 points per game across 11 road contests, notching 22-plus in eight of them, to finish with (min. 3 GP) the third-best such average of any DI player, the second-best mark by anyone in the SEC in the last 20 seasons (2004-24) and the fifth-best ledger by any Power Six player in the past decade (2014-24).
- Led or co-led Tennessee in scoring 24 times, the most on the team, and in rebounding eight times, tied for second-most among Volunteers.
- Also led or co-led the team in minutes and blocks six times apiece, respectively third and co-third on Tennessee, plus did so in steals on five occasions and in assists once.
- Paced the Volunteers in outings with double-digit points (32), 15-plus points (27), 20-plus points (19), 25-plus points (13), 30-plus points (eight) and 35-plus points (six).
- Ranked third on the team in six-rebound outings (15), notching eight-plus four times and 10 once, while tying for third in both multiple-assist (17) and five-assist (three) games.
- Notched multiple steals on six occasions with three twice, plus placed second among Volunteers with multiple blocks in six outings and with three blocks thrice.
- Logged the top single-game totals by a Volunteer in points (40), points in the first half (22), points in the second half (27), made field goals (14, twice), made field goals in the first half (nine), made field goals in the second half (nine, thrice), field-goal attempts (31), made 3-pointers (six, thrice), 3-point attempts (15), made free throws (10) and most free throws without a miss (nine), plus tied for the most free-throw attempts (12).
- Compiled three of the top four single-game point totals by a Volunteer, including the top three in regulation, over the last 34 seasons (1990-2024).
- Reached double-digit points in a half on 43 occasions—he did so seven times in a row from 2/7/24-2/17/24 and twice in a game 15 times—with 15-plus points in 19 halves, 18-plus in 11, 20-plus in seven and 26-plus twice.
- Averaged 25.86 points per game over his final 22 appearances as a Volunteer—he had 22-plus points in 16 of those affairs and 31-plus in seven—good for the best mark by an SEC player in any 22-game span since 2008-09.
- First Tennessee player with six straight 25-point games (1/10/24-1/30/24) since Tony White over 36 years prior (12/27/86-1/10/87) and first in the SEC since Devan Downey had eight in a row nearly 14 years earlier (1/9/10-2/6/10).
- After no SEC player had 39-plus points in a regulation conference game versus an AP top-25 foe in over 15 year (1/13/09), did so twice in the final 10 days of the regular season.
- Became the fourth DI player in the last 15 seasons (2009-24), including the first since Ja Morant in 2018-19, to post 780 points, 175 rebounds, 65 assists, 25 steals and 20 blocks in a single campaign.
- Averaged 26.0 points per game (fourth-most among players with multiple appearances) in the NCAA Tournament and finished with 104 total (third-most) across four outings.
- Broke the program record for points in an NCAA Tournament game with 37, the sixth-most ever by an SEC player, in the Elite Eight matchup with third-ranked Purdue (3/31/24), as well as broke the school's single-season record with his eighth 35-point performance in a game he shot 6-of-12 from deep to tie a career best in makes. A full list of notes from his performance can be found HERE.
- Amassed a game-high 26 points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block in the Sweet 16 victory over No. 11 Creighton (3/29/24), becoming the 12 Division I player and just the second from the SEC—the other was Arkansas' Corliss Williamson in the 1994 Final Four—to post that stat line in an NCAA Tournament contest, as well as matching the fourth-highest single-game point total by a Volunteer in NCAA Tournament play.
- Led all scorers with 18 points and co-led all players with nine rebounds in the NCAA Tournament second-round victory over Texas (3/23/24) and went 4-of-4 at the line in the final 10 seconds.
- In his NCAA Tournament debut, scored a game-best 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including a 4-of-8 mark from deep, in the first-round win over Saint Peter's (3/21/24), adding a game-high eight rebounds.
- In his last home game, dropped a career-best 40 points, shooting 14-of-29 overall and 6-of-15 from deep to tie career highs in both makes categories, against No. 15/13 Kentucky (3/9/24), good for the first 40-point showing in regulation and first at home by a Volunteer in over 34 years, while also becoming the second player in program history with five 35-point games in a single season and third with three 39-point showings. A full list of notes from his performance can be found HERE.
- Recorded a game-high 26 points, finishing 5-of-11 from 3-point range, in the win at No. 17/16 South Carolina (3/6/24), as Tennessee claimed the outright SEC title.
- Tied a career high with 39 points, scoring 25 of them on a 9-of-10 field goal clip in a span of 10:07 late in the second half, in the win over No. 11 Auburn (2/28/24) to become the first Division I player this season with four 35-point outings, as well as tie for both the fourth-most 35-point games (four) in Tennessee history and the second-most in a single season (four), plus tie for the eighth-most 30-point showings (six) in program history in both a career and a season. A full list of notes from his performance can be found HERE.
- Shot 7-of-14 from the floor, 4-of-9 on 3-pointers and 6-of-7 at the line to lead to record a game-high 24 points versus Texas A&M (2/24/24), adding seven rebounds.
- Compiled his first double-double as a Volunteer in the win at Missouri (2/20/24), logging 17 points, including 15 in the second half, and a season-high 10 rebounds.
- Finished with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting, along with a co-career-high three blocks, at Arkansas (2/14/24), eclipsing 500 makes in his DI career and reaching 20-plus for the ninth time in a 10-game span.
- Notched 22 points, seven rebounds and two blocks at Texas A&M (2/10/24), finishing 6-of-11 from deep to tie a career high in makes.
- Became the second SEC player in the last 15 seasons (2009-24), alongside LSU's Ben Simmons (12/2/15 versus Longwood), to post 27 points, seven rebounds, six assists (career high), three blocks (co-career high) and two steals in a game, as he did so against LSU (2/7/24) in his seventh 25-point showing over an eight-game span.
- Tallied 31 points, including 13 on 5-of-5 shooting in a two-and-a-half minute stretch late in the second half, versus South Carolina (1/30/24), becoming the first Vol ever to score 30-plus four times in a five-game span and the first SEC player to do so in 14 years, as well as the eighth Power Six player in the last two decades to score 190 points in a six-game stretch, the first Power Six player in four years with a single-season 25-point streak of at least six games and the seventh UT player ever with five 30-point games in a season. A full list of notes from his performance can be found HERE.
- Registered 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting, six rebounds, three assists and a career-high three blocks at Vanderbilt (1/27/24), becoming the first SEC player since Tennessee's Chris Lofton in 2006-07 to score 32-plus thrice in a four-game stretch and the first SEC player since South Carolina's Devan Downey in 2009-10 with five straight 25-point performances. A full list of notes from his performance can be found HERE.
- Totaled 25 points versus Alabama (1/20/24), becoming just the fifth SEC player in the last 14 seasons (2010-24) to reach that mark in four consecutive outings. A full list of notes from his performance can be found HERE.
- Compiled a career-high 39 points and eight rebounds versus Florida (1/16/24), shooting 13-of-23 overall, 4-of-6 from deep and 9-of-9 at the line, to become the sixth Volunteer—the others are Ernie Grunfeld, Allan Houston, Bernard King, Dale Ellis and Tony White—with three-career 35-point games, as well as the fifth Volunteer—seventh occurrence—with back-to-back 35-point showings and the first SEC player to achieve that feat since LSU's Shaquille O'Neal in Feb. 1991. A full list of notes from his performance can be found HERE.
- Dropped 36 points, including 20 after halftime, on 12-of-20 shooting, including a 5-of-8 mark from deep to set a season high in makes, in the comeback victory at Georgia (1/13/24), becoming the fourth Volunteer—the others are Allan Houston, Bernard King and Grant Williams—with multiple 35-point road showings, as well as the first UT player since Chris Lofton in Feb. 2006 with back-to-back 25-point outings against DI teams with both on the road and the first to do so in any consecutive games since Admiral Schofield in Dec. 2018. A full list of notes from his performance can be found HERE in the game recap.
- Produced a game-best 28 points, six rebounds and a season-high three steals at Mississippi State (1/10/24) in his first SEC road action, including notching 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting in the second half alone.
- Amassed a team-leading 21 points, including 13 after halftime, on 7-of-14 shooting in the triumph versus No. 20 Illinois (12/9/23).
- Poured in a career-best 37 points on 13-of-17 shooting—along with six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal—before departing with a left ankle injury with 99 seconds left at No. 17 North Carolina (11/29/23), tying the visitor scoring record at the Dean E. Smith Center, logging the second-most points by any player against the Tar Heels in the last 15 years, matching Allan Houston for the second-most points ever by a Vol in a non-conference road game and becoming the third Vol with 37-plus points in a game in the last 33 seasons. A full list of notes from his performance can be found HERE.
- Contributed 13 points and six rebounds against top-ranked Kansas (11/22/23) in Tennessee's Maui Invitational finale.
- Tallied 16 points at seven rebounds versus second-ranked Purdue (11/21/23) in UT's second contest at the Maui Invitational.
- Paced Tennessee with 17 points, connecting on 3 of 4 attempts from 3-point range and adding four rebounds and three assists in the Vols' win over Syracuse (11/20/23) at the Maui Invitational.
- Registered 18 points on a 6-of-11 shooting night with a game-best plus/minus rating of +22 as Tennessee took down Wofford (11/14/23).
- Put up a game-best 24 points and five rebounds in the victory at Wiscoinsin (11/10/23), finishing 8-of-15 from the field and reaching exactly 1,000 career points in just his 69th DI appearance.
- Recorded a game-high 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor in Tennessee's season-opening 80-42 win over Tennessee Tech (11/6/23).
- Converted a ferocious tomahawk dunk into a three-point play during the second half of his 28-point outing in Tennessee's 89-88 exhibition victory at No. 4 Michigan State (10/29/23).
SUMMER 2023
- Was Tennessee's leading scorer through three international exhibition wins in Italy, averaging 16.3 points per game while shooting .529 from the field and .480 from beyond the arc.
- He led or shared the team lead in scoring in all three games. The Vols beat the Lithuanian U21 National Team twice before defeating Rome-based pro team A.S. Stella Azzurra.
2022-23 - SENIOR (at University of Northern Colorado)
- Completed his degree in Communications in May of 2023.
- Entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on March 23, 2023.
- Won the Big Sky scoring title by averaging a league-best 20.2 points per game, which ranked 23rd among Division I players.
- Also finished the year ranked second in the Big Sky in minutes played (35.3 mpg), second in defensive rebounds per game (6.5 drpg), fifth in field-goal percentage (.479), sixth in rebounding (7.2 rpg) and ninth in free-throw percentage (.771).
- During Big Sky play, he increased his league-best scoring average to 21.6 points per game.
- Started all 32 games for the Bears (12-20, 6-12 Big Sky) and led the team in scoring, rebounding, blocks (0.6 bpg), field-goal percentage, 3-pointers made (77) and minutes played.
- Led the Bears in scoring 17 times on the year, with 18 20-point games and three 30-point performances.
- Scored a career-high 34 points on 14-of-21 shooting during UNC's home win over Idaho (1/21/23).
- Made six 3-pointers to highlight a 31-point effort in a road win at Portland State (1/14/23).
- Posted his first Division I 30-point performance when he scored 32 against Montana (1/7/23).
2021-22 - JUNIOR (at University of Northern Colorado)
- Junior college transfer saw action in 35 games, with 11 starts for the Bears (22-16, 13-7 Big Sky).
- Averaged 8.9 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting .436 from the field, .361 from 3-point range and .753 from the free-throw line.
- Scored in double figures 15 times.
- Shot 5-of-7 from 3-point range during a 17-point effort at Cal Baptist (11/21/21).
- Scored a season-high 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting with four made 3-pointers, and also added 11 rebounds, against Division III Colorado College (11/15/21) for his first Division I double-double.
2020-21 - SOPHOMORE (at Northeastern Junior College [Colo.])
- Earned first-team NJCAA All-America acclaim while helping lead the Plainsmen to the NJCAA DI Tournament.
- Started all 20 games in which he appeared and averaged a team-high 23.9 points while shooting .512 from the field.
- Also averaged 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game and shot .395 from 3-point range (34 of 86).
- Scored at least 15 points in all 20 games played, with 15 20-point outings and four 30-point performances.
- Logged four double-doubles on the season.
- Exploded for a season-high 38 points during a win over Eastern Wyoming College (4/9/21), shooting 15-for-26.
2019-20 - FRESHMAN (at Northeastern Junior College [Colo.])
- True freshman started 14 of the 31 games in which he appeared, playing for head coach Eddie Trenkle.
- Northeastern finished with a 24-8 record, won the NJCAA Region IX regular-season title and advanced to the Region IX championship game.
- In 15.2 minutes per game, the All-Region IX performer averaged 13.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 assist while shooting .504 from the field and .451 from 3-point range (74 of 164).
- Logged 10 or more points 19 times, with five 20-point games.
- Made four 3-pointers en route to a season-high 29 points vs. Western Nebraska Community College (1/10/20).
- Posted his first collegiate double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds in a 91-58 win over Rexburg United (11/22/19).
HIGH SCHOOL
- Graduated from Prairie View High School in Henderson, Colorado, where he was coached by Keith Wyatt.
- Averaged 21.0 points and 6.5 rebounds as a senior in 2018-19.
PERSONAL
- Full name is Dalton Douglas Knecht
- Last name is pronounced: connect
- Born April 19, 2001, in Fargo, North Dakota
- Son of Corey and Carrie Knecht
- Academic Major: Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication (master's level)
- His favorite player growing up was another standout coached by Rick Barnes, Kevin Durant.
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